Previous Lives
by Awatere11
Summary: After Lisa, Ianto has a game he plays with Jack when they are alone. He tells Jack about his previous lives and although Jack doesn't believe his stories, he does love Ianto's inventive mind. Some deaths are quite spectacular, some mundane. What always interests Jack is how accurate Ianto is, many deaths being ones Jack has felt as well. HIGHLANDER Xova rated for Smutt and Language
1. Chapter 1

1

"What are you thinking about?"

Ianto turned to Jack with a raised eyebrow, surprised at the question, then looked back out over the bay as he considered.

"Ianto?"

"Once upon a time, in a previous life, like." Ianto decided to be truthful, "I was a fisherman named Bjorn."

"Bjorn." Jack grinned as he watched Ianto squint into the wind and he settled against the railing.

"Yep. Me hair was long, brushing me shoulders and bleached at the tips. I wore woolen jerseys knitted by me wife."

"Oh. Was she nice?" Jack asked with glee as he realized he was going to get one of Ianto's stories.

"Gretta."

"Ooo, good name." Jack turned back to look over the bay as well as he tried to let his imagination match his lover's.

"Gretta had rust coloured hair. She used to cut it herself with a pair of sheers she had for the sheep. It was a bit like a pixie cut, women pay big money for it these days but I always hated coming home to find it short again" Ianto lamented.

"Did she have a nice body?" Jack asked was a gentle push of an elbow.

"Not bad, a bit thick set after little Frank came I guess but a baby does that sometimes" Ianto shrugged, "Not that I minded. She was a grand wee cuddle monster."

Jack closed his eyes to imagine a tanned, weather beaten Ianto cuddled with a woman with rust pixie hair.

"She had wonderful tits" Ianto offered and Jack hummed.

"What did you catch?"

"Hmmm?"

"As a fisherman, what was your catch" Jack prompted.

"Fish. Cod mostly, whatever the season was" Ianto shrugged, "Wasn't my boat. I was just crew."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes. I did. I liked the routine, the monotony of it" Ianto shrugged, "Maybe that's why I like archiving. You rolled out of your bunk, got food, went up on deck. Watched the waves, braced your hip against something and ground the hard grind."

"How long were you out each trip?" Jack moved closer to brush arms with him.

"A week at a time." Ianto said after considering the question, "A week on and a week off. Two crews that swapped around."

"So … someone else slept in your bed each other week?" Jack asked and Ianto snorted as he saw the trap.

"Me wife was good, kind and true!" he scolded Jack, "She never had another in me bed! The bunk on the boat was shared though."

Jack laughed as he saw that his question had been seen through.

"Sometimes I would smell pipe smoke from me bunk mate" Ianto sighed, "I would climb into me bunk and it would waft around me like a whisper."

"I could have kept you warm in your bunk" Jack offered, "Like a naked bed warmer."

Ianto snorted, "Well, a strange mermaid indeed sir, would have been nice rolling with the waves hitting the wooden hull barely inches from us as we grunt and try to keep it quiet."

"How did you die then?" Jack asked what he really wanted to know, what always fascinated him. Ianto was always so good with this part, so thorough with the images. This is what made him such a great re-stager with the bodies.

His crime scenes were always believable, no matter how they truly died.

"Ah. We sank of course and I drowned." Ianto snorted.

"Drowned? Horrible, drowning." Jack grimaced as several of his own drowning came to mind.

"Well, it was terribly cold. A winter storm, blew in out of nowhere, we were trying to lift the gear and … well. It was stuck on something. Another ship already gone? Who knows but one minute we're racing the storm, then next the winch is screaming and we're getting swamped" Ianto closed his eyes, "The water kept crashing over the bull-works as we struggled to cut the lines. If we had just been a few minutes faster maybe ... well. Lance went over first, yelling at me as he reached back and I knew … even as I reached for him I knew."

"The water in your woolen jersey would have pulled you down" Jack agreed.

"Yeah, I managed to kick off me gumboots but god, it was so cold Jack. Black, just the boat lights as she went down, blinking and flickering as she sank into the deep." Ianto straightened up and seemed to shake with the feeling of the cold water.

"I felt for me wife" he said as he started to move away from the memory, "She was with child when I went. Me last thought was... if it was a son or daughter that I could never know. Poor woman, a wee one and another on the way. No body to bury, not that far out in the blue."

"Sorry" Jack winced, "Hard to leave family behind."

"Have you ever gone back? For a peek?" Ianto asked and Jack turned to look at him with surprise. He didn't usually involve him in his stories.

"You know, after the new life is set up and everything, did you ever just want a peek back?" Ianto seemed to be testing him somehow and Jack answered truthfully.

"Never."

It seems to comfort him; it was the right answer because Ianto smiled as he motioned to Jack that it was time to go.

They left the salty air behind with the faint smell of pipe smoke in Ianto's nose.


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Hmmmm, this is awkward" Ianto muttered as he looked warily at the body Owen was standing over.

"Yeah, a juvenile weevil so it's not more than the one incision" Owen waved his hand over the open chest and Ianto swore softly as he tried to think of a way to make this look like anything but what it was.

A weevil attack.

Jack helped load the body into the back of the SUV, "How will you do it?"

Ianto looked at him and grimaced as he shrugged.

"Come on, you must have something." Jack wheedled.

"He's not a farmer so I can't shove him into the thresher!" Ianto huffed, doing that neck rubbing thing that was so cute.

He often did that when he thought about death.

"Well, he's not a swimmer either so not a boat prop." Ianto was looking at the ceiling, "Could be a car accident, went through the windscreen?"

"Ah, a smash" Jack nodded, "You will need to mess the face up as well."

"Depends. The top of his head maybe." Ianto frowned.

"And the cut?"

"Going through the windscreen, caught on a hunk of glass" Ianto frowned.

"Bleeding to death" Jack agreed as he closed the boot.

"I remember catching one arm in a piece of machinery once, in a previous life," Ianto offered and Jack perked up at the offer of a story.

"It was … 1843" Ianto said as he picked up some extra plastic and Jack felt a thrill.

He was going to be specific.

"I was working my way around the district, over Derbyshire way." Ianto leaned back against the vehicle and smiled at Jack's obvious interest, "Called meself Ianto O'Malley. Common enough name to get by."

"A good name is a common one. Less likely to be remembered!" Jack agreed as he slid into the passenger seat.

"So we were haymaking, the machine was pulled by these lovely big draught horses who loved shortbread" Ianto continued his story as they drove, "This hay bailer was quite new on the market, it was supposed to move the hay into thin rows to get gathered but something got caught in one."

"What did?" Jack asked, liking this one for the details.

"Argh. A small dog. Belonged to the boy who was helping for the day. Poor thing had fallen asleep in the sun, nestled in the hay and was swept up. God the noise was horrible." Ianto turned left at the lights.

"So, the dog was in the machine?"

"I heard the screaming and panicked, if I'd had time I would have known the poor thing was already dying but in that moment, I just acted. Reaching in to try and pull it out." Ianto laughed softly, "Pulled me arm off just like it was a piece of taffy."

"Shit" Jack tried to imagine.

"Took me so long to bleed out, the pain was waves, ya know? It would go from cold indifference to intense agony" Ianto stopped at some lights, "it seemed like forever."

"Yeah, exsanguination is like a slow death that never comes" Jack agreed.

"That poor boy, crying for his dog, then screaming for me" Ianto lamented, "How does one accept that? Their actions caused a death?"

Jack looked over at Ianto and knew Lisa must be going through his mind, that poor doctor and innocent pizza delivery girl.

"An accident is nobody's fault Ianto" he said softly, placing a hand on Ianto's thigh, "Maybe that is something I've learnt with my many deaths. Be they my fault, someone else's or just dumb luck. In the end it doesn't matter. Death is death. When it is done you can only move on."

"Yeah" Ianto nodded as the light changed and they crawled forward, "I try to see it like that but sometimes … the taste of blood is too much, just from it being in the air, ya know?"

"Like Canary Warf" Jack pointed out, so many to blame, so many that could have changed things and all those lives taken without a second thought. We can't fix it. We can't make it unmade. All we can do is lament, learn and move on."

"It's not easy though" Ianto agreed, "The pull of the good times, they draw you back. In the end though, you are right. You can never go back."

"I have done things, seen things and suffered things that are not fair or right. I can't change them. The Doctor said that they are fixed points, we cannot change fixed points. Apparently even Timelords have limits." Jack smiled as he saw the morgue ahead and knew Ianto was going to do a body dump with gangland style stabbing.

"It's in the dark though, late at night" Ianto said softly as he shut the engine off and turned to face him, "Their voices, faces, smells….in the witching hour we remember those who got under your skin. Like a song where the melody in on the breeze, but the words escape you."

Jack had never heard it put so eloquently and he reached out impulsively, strong Ianto's cheek as he leaned in and kissed him.

He pulled back and found soft humor in those calculating eyes.

Ianto flicked his wrist and a blade appeared.

Jack jumped reflexively, never even imagining that he had something hidden away like that.

"After all this time, nice to know I can still surprise you Sir" Ianto purred, his voice low and soothing.

"Ianto …"

"Gotta do some stabbing now sir" Ianto said softly, his hand now stroking a cheek as Jack closed his eyes and leaned into it, "Be a good boy and don't put your feet on the dash now."

"Yes beloved" Jack sighed softly.

Then with a soft click of the door Ianto was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Jack was spinning slowly in his chair as he read the autopsy report and frowned.

"Ianto" he bellowed and the dapper young man appeared in the doorway with raised eyebrows.

"You rang?"

"Did you read this report our illustrious Doctor has submitted?" Jack asked, waving the file like a fan.

"Ah"

"Ah?" Jack asked, "That all you have to say?"

"Owen was a little bit … er … I believe the technical term is … shitfaced, Sir" Ianto said blandly and Jack huffed as he threw the file back on the desk.

"Bloody idiot. Wonder he doesn't cut his fingers off with the scalpel one day!" Jack muttered.

"Mmmmm" Ianto was reading the report, "Still. Losing your lower limbs to a carnivorous plant, not nice."

"No" Jack sighed, "At least with the main artery gone with amputation you go quickly. This poor bastard took so long to die, slowly dissolving."

"I lost a leg … in a previous life" Ianto suddenly said and Jack perked up.

"Really?" Jack leaned forward on the desk, "Please?"

Ianto smiled as he settled and steepled his fingers as he considered where to begin.

Jack shot from behind the desk to sit on the floor, cross legged like a child at his grandfather's knee and Ianto smiled softly, as that loving Grandfather might.

"It was on a battlefield" Ianto decided to chose this one for Jack's bloodlust begging grin.

"Oooo, you were in a uniform?" Jack asked with glee.

"Yes. I was. My god it was … god. It was a long time ago Jack, it was one of my early ones. I don't often share those" Ianto huffed as he watched Jack wriggle with glee, like a little puppy.

"The battle of Pinkie Cleugh" Ianto said solemnly watching Jack's eyes widen.

"10 September 1547 in Musselburgh, Lothian. In Scotland." Ianto continued.

"Me and my Cousin Scots held fast with wooden pikes. I was only there because my cousin had talked me into it. The Scottish pikemen drove the English off and inflicted heavy casualties on the English horsemen. Lord Grey himself was wounded by a pike thrust through his throat and into his mouth. One of those who came off his horse swung his sword up as I was struggling with the pike that was stuck in the horse's chest cavity."

Ianto reached out and tapped his knee, "Just here, below the joint. Like a knife through butter."

"It was a slaughter though, as we were doomed to fail as our bloody minded Generals ordered us forward over the fallen bodies of our own kin, a pitiful sight of the dead corpses lying dispersed abroad, some their legs off, some but houghed, and left lying half-dead, some thrust quite through the body, others the arms cut off, diverse their necks half asunder, many their heads cloven, of sundry the brains pasht out, some others again their heads quite off, with other many kinds of killing" Ianto grimaced.

"There goes that beheading thing again" Jack said softly as he watched Ianto rub the back of his neck.

"All for the most part killed either in the head or in the neck, for their horsemen could not well reach the lower areas with their swords. And so this chase was continued five miles in length westward from the place of their standing, which was in the fallow fields of Inveresk until Edinburgh Park and well nigh to the gates of the town itself and unto Leith, and in breadth nigh 4 miles, from the Firth sands up toward Dalkeith southward. In all which space, the dead bodies lay as thick as a man might see cattle grazing in a full replenished pasture. The river ran all red with blood," Ianto stopped talking and swallowed, as if he could taste the blood of the defeat, then he reached out to stroke Jack's hair.

He found it comforting.

"I was already down, my injury a slow way to die, watching as those I had trained with died terribly. God, Jack, it was horrible. They said later that there had been traitors in our midst, bloody informants and that's how the English flanked us so easily, but who can say." Ianto snorted, "Should have stayed out of it. I'm bloody Welsh after all, even if my kin came over from Scotland."

"This battle has upset you" Jack frowned, "You must have spent a lot of time going over it, old records and such."

Ianto smiled softly as he bit his tongue.

"Really? You have no idea" he whispered, "Those deaths that linger."

Jack sighed as he closed his eyes and let his head rest against Ianto's knee.

He did know.

That was the true curse of an immortal.

Memories of those lost.


	4. Chapter 4

4

"In a previous life, I died just like that" Ianto said, pointing at the body as the rest of the team worked the outer perimeter of the scene.

"Really?" Jack couldn't hide his surprise as this was a death he hadn't suffered yet, personally.

"Was a stupid mistake really, got overly cocky" Ianto snorted, "A bit like that chap."

"You got your foot caught in the door of a spaceship?" Jack asked with hilarity and Ianto's eye roll was delicious.

The body was more of a pulpy mess with a foot and a hand the only recognizable things. Well, that and the Unit cap that Ianto refused to let Jack pick up.

"No! A lift door though" Ianto replied, "A malfunction had it close on my leg while I was kneeling to push out a heavy box ahead of me and I was … well."

Ianto made a noise as he moved one hand up and the other down to show the unpleasant crushing the body might have suffered.

"Gross" Jack grimaced, trying to imagine how his bones would splinter.

"Took a while to get over that" Ianto shrugged, "Still have a thing about lifts. Get quite pushy with the doors."

Jack grinned as he recalled that Ianto did like to place his hands on the doors as he stepped though.

One of his little OCDs that was kind of cute.

"At least I don't have to do the clean up on this one" Ianto finally said, "Silver lining. Right, Sir?"

"Yes Ianto" Jack smiled affectionately as the young man calmly wiped the edge of his shoe in the grass, "Silver linings."

Later in the lift, as they headed back up from Owen's roars in the autopsy bay, Jack turned to Ianto.

"Do you like lifts though, despite the …" Jack made the motion with his hands that Ianto had earlier and Ianto raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ever had lift sex?" Jack leered and Ianto's face changed to one of amusement as he watched Jack hit the stop button.

"Really Sir?" Ianto snorted "Here?"

Jack slid his hands around the pert waist, puling Ianto in for a kiss and felt Ianto's body relaxing against him with a soft moan.

"Are you two bloody stuck?" Owen's voice boomed through the speaker and Ianto slapped a hand over his mouth as a giggle escaped.

"Almost, until you piped up" Jack whispered and then said louder, "Fuck off Owen. Meeting in progress here!"

"That what you call that now, ya twats!" Owen muttered then a click told them that he had abandoned them.

"You tease!" Ianto chuckled, feeling Jack press a finger to his lips to hush him.

 _I couldn't help but giggle. He made me feel so alive!_

"Would you like a taste?" Jack asked as he let his trousers drop, swaying his erection inches from Ianto's' hand. Jack flicked his coat into the corner where it seemed to fold as a body might.

Ianto involuntarily licked his lips. He stopped moving, standing as still as he could before Jack, watching intently with hooded eyes. Cautiously, Ianto sank to his knees as he took hold of him, silently marvelling at just how hard he really was.

Ianto looked up at him and licked the tip, watching his breath catch. Slowly, he put him in his mouth, keeping their eyes locked as he dragged his lips as far down his length as he could manage.

Jack's head fell back as he moaned.

Ianto repeated the motion, mimicking it with his hand at the base.

Jack buried his hands in Ianto's hair, encouraging him to continue.

The faster Ianto went, the thicker he grew.

Ianto moaned around his flesh, feeling his lips vibrate against Jack's skin. It was too much without some release. Ianto reached down with his free hand and gently stroked his own erection that was still trapped beneath cotton and silk.

Ianto's head turned hazy within seconds, the smell of Jack filling the small space and he found himself stroking him even faster.

Jack's breathing turned ragged, and Ianto knew he wouldn't last much longer.

Suddenly, Jack pushed him back, taking a step away.

"I'm not done with you yet," he managed through ragged breaths.

Ianto leaned back preparing himself with one hand down the back of his trousers continuing to rub that large mound in front with the other as Jack watched. His face was dark with hunger, almost animalistic.

Ianto rose just as majestically to stand and look Jack in the eye, looking predatory.

The sound of Ianto's belt hitting the metal grating made Jack's erection jump. Ianto sank back to the floor and onto Jack's coat, displaying himself decadently.

"Come here then," Ianto said boldly, spreading his legs wide for him, showing him just how prepared he'd made himself. A low growl resonated from his chest, and he practically pounced, taking no time to slide in, all the way to the hilt.

Ianto cried out in ecstasy, locking his ankles behind Jack's back. Jack pulled away as far as he could without completely removing himself, and then slammed back in. Ianto wanted to beg him to love him like this for eternity, but his voice was lost to the insatiable need to scream his pleasure to the heavens.

Ianto reached forward and grabbed his hips, making him drive in faster.

"I want to taste you, Jack," Ianto growled between frantic breaths.

"Give me your essence!" Ianto begged.

His words must have pushed Jack over the edge.

He let out a bellow, pulling out and jumping to his feet, thrusting roughly into Ianto mouth just in time. Ianto held onto his legs, steadying him as he emptied himself into his mouth.

Jack tasted so sweet on his tongue, much sweeter than Ianto had expected, and he savoured every drop.

"When I have calmed down a bit, I'm going to show you another place I can love you." Jack fell down at Ianto's side, swinging a heavy leg over Ianto's hip.

"Is there another place around here?" Ianto looked around, pretending to be intrigued.

Jack laughed lazily, shaking his head. "Just wondered if you had a fear of heights."

"Depends on how high you want to get me Sir" Ianto giggled.

"Cheeky today Mister Jones" Jack finally said as he stared to rub Ianto's stomach softly, paying with the cum pooled there.

"Ew, stop that ya piglet!" Ianto snorted, pulling out his handkerchief but Jack grabbed his wrist to still his movement, leaning over to lick Ianto clean.

Ianto moaned and let himself go limp as he wondered if this is why cats lick each other so much.

Ianto was never going to be afraid in a lift again.


	5. Chapter 5

5

"Tell me" Jack whispered as Ianto shifted in the bunk, pulling him close again.

"Isssss nthnnnn" Ianto muttered as he settled and stated to doze again.

It was the third time that week that Jack had been woken by Ianto's thrashing as he fought with something unseen.

A soft sigh told him that Ianto was not asleep, but choosing what to tell him.

Jack chose to wait.

"I hate the first snows" Ianto peered into the dark, "The signal of winter and all that bloody snow just waiting to come smother you like a thick blanket."

"I know you don't mind the rain, but do you hate snow that much?" Jack asked as he recalled Ianto's startled face from was Gwen had excitedly entered brushing flakes off her coat at the start of the week.

"An avalanche, took me by surprise." Ianto whispered.

"Really?" Jack smiled as he rubbed lazy circles on Ianto's back, feeling Ianto relax more into their joined bodies. This was not the first time a story had calmed them in the wee small hours.

This story was new.

Would he ever tire of thinking them up, just to amuse his lover?

"Just a stupid mistake. I knew the snowfall had been heavy overnight, when light the day before. All that hard snow compacted on a light frosting, making a crust" Ianto huffed, "Kurt was the idiot that shouted though. Our horse team startled by the large boom, like a gunshot echoing and I knew, even as the monster moved towards us like some ancient curse."

Jack pulled the blankets up more as he considered, then spoke.

"The coldest way I died was falling through the ice on an ice lake. That was bloody stupid too" Jack sighed, "The big freeze of '63."

"I remember that!" Ianto hugged Jack, "A shitty New Year all around. Bloody Scotland fared better, the bastards."

Jack laughed and then groaned as Ianto's hands found a place of warmth and bucked against those agile fingers.

"One of the scariest things, buried in the snow" Ianto whispered, "Was that I didn't die straight away. A little air pocket so I froze to death as my air ran out. Don't know which got me in the end."

"Did you stay there until the spring thaw?" Jack asked, knowing he was not supposed to asked about the 'after' part but luckily Ianto was feeling generous.

"No, I was dug out by those who had survived and buried with a loving cross and all" Ianto's voice all but died out, "That was the worst part. They buried me Jack."

"Hey, hey" Jack felt something changing and he kissed Ianto as he tried to bring him back to him, tried to refocus his melancholy. "This is what you are dreaming about baby?"

Ianto snorted, "Silly. I know."

"No" Jack assured him, "The thought of being buried alive. Coming back only to die as you struggle to free yourself. God, how many deaths as you suffocate on the limited air, and then you are waking to no air at all."

"Make love to me" Ianto whispered and Jack obliged.

He ran his fingers over goose bumps, chuckling as Ianto shivered with need, hungry for attention and the kiss held promise of fulfillment that had Ianto whimpering.

Lips fused and held as Ianto realized that he loved this swarthy virile man that was currently waging a loving attack on his throat.

Nerves stretched taut, Jack was probing in a slow repetitive rhythm at Ianto's entrance, whispering against his skin, then kissing again as he slid in to the still slick hole from their evening romp at bedtime, filling him with … thereness.

Rapid, shallow breaths in the dark as they undulated and fell from the earth into that other place reserved for lovers.

Shock waves of pleasure sizzled as Ianto's sharp spasm of need swirled into a shattering climax as both men cried out lustily and Jack relaxed against him, laughing softly.

Tremors rose in the wake of this crescendo and both men moaned softly as thy rubbed against each other and Ianto was reminded of a dog humping your leg as Jack bucked and huffed with his aftershocks.

"I don't like the dark, but I don't mind it when I'm with you" Ianto whispered, "Even if I were suffocating from lack of air, I feel like you would sustain me with your breath alone."

"I hope so" Jack murmured as his lips kissed along Ianto's jaw line, "I would hope to sustain you until the end of your days, Ianto."

"I might not know much Jack, but I do know that I would rather end this life in your arms."

Jack held him tightly as he struggled not to show his dismay at the statement.

They both know that would be how he went.

If Jack could help it.

Jack would hold tight and build what memories he could for his tin of regret.

Until this life burns out.


	6. Chapter 6

6

"I know Rhia, I'm just sayin …."

Jack stopped walking and stood outside the room, listening as Ianto huffed at someone and then stepped around the frame to look into the little office.

"Rhia! I am not trying to buy your affection, please." Ianto begged down his phone, "If the boy needs the money for the trip I would like to pay."

Ianto's shoulders sagged in defeat, "OK. I know. Of course Johnny is a good man. OK. I love you too. Goodbye then."

Ianto ended the call and then leaned against the little sink as he cursed a blue storm into the cool air.

"Nice" Jack said, making him jump with a little squeak for added value.

"Jesus Jack!"

"Everything OK?" Jack asked as he leaned back against the doorframe, watching Ianto shoot his cuffs to hide his irritation.

"Just Rhia, my … my sister." Ianto stammered, then he shook himself like he sometimes did like a mental reset.

"Was wondering if there was coffee before you went home, it's quite late ya know" Jack pointed out and Ianto nodded. "Just us."

"That's why she rang, thinking I'd be at home already" Ianto walked down to the hub with him and soon they were sitting on the sofa sipping their coffee.

"Tell me" Jack asked softly.

"Not tonight." Ianto said flatly.

"Come on, just one. Any one, even one you told me already." Jack begged and Ianto rolled his eyes as he let his head fall back.

"In a previous life, I had a daughter. And my gorgeous Sammy, she was Sammy's, the little girl. We met through a mutual friend and Sammy had this little newborn babe and it was just screaming on the floor, everyone stepping over it and this voice yells, 'is anyone picking up my bloody baby' so I did. Little blue eyes, dark wisps of hair and a pout to rival Marylyn Monroe."

Jack sat back with interest as this was a life he had ever been told, a new story from the depths of Ianto's imagination.

"Sammy was a breath of fresh air and we knew within days really, we were in love. Of course Sammy's family hated me. My sullen ways, my Goth style dress sense and my uncanny ability to silence the baby with a tap of my finger to her chest." Ianto smiled softly as he seemed to think of the next part of his story, "Anyway. She was about …six? Seven? A real little spitfire and my queen. Sammy and I had been fighting. Nothing bad, just the usual. Garbage. Redecorating. Sammy's family hating me… you know The usual."

Jack snorted softly and then waited, knowing Ianto would start again if he waited.

"Then I was called away for work. I was gone three days and came home late at night, cold hungry and fed up. I just wanted Sammy and a peek at our princess in her bed, ya know?"

"I remember the house was so dark. Still and ... it seems so big all of a sudden. As I stood there, I knew. I just knew." Ianto snorted sadly and Jack watched as he grimaced, "There had been an accident. A hit and run. Sammy was gone."

"Jesus."

"The family had been in and stripped the place, everything was gone, even my stuff." Ianto was whispering now, "My little princess…gone too."

"I looked for her, for years and when I finally found her she was a sullen teenager who hated me. Believed the lies the family had told her and she believed I had left because Sammy had died. That I couldn't wait to be shot of her. I begged her, I showed her the letters I wrote, the cards I sent to Sammy's parents, all returned unopened. Still, I was wrong. All these years and my little girl sneered at me as she called me a godamned freak."

Jack flinched at the word and turned to say something, but saw a lone tear rolling down Ianto's cheek.

"She barely knew me, didn't care." Ianto wiped viciously at the tear as if it offended him, "I could have skinned myself alive at her feet and she would still say I never did anything for her. Her own kids not allowed to know who I am … telling them I'm her brother, not her father least they know …. Sorry. I'm saying too much here, this isn't a story to tell. I better go."

Jack thought of Alice, Stephen and his own desperate hunt for his little girl and then looked at Ianto with horror.

How did he know?

Was this a test?

Using his own past in a story to tell him that he knew about her?

Jack exploded from the sofa, slamming down the half empty cup. "I think you should go now."

"Sir?" Ianto asked with open confusion.

"I said, go. And I don't ever want to hear that one again!" Jack snarled, "If you really didn't want to tell me one you should have just said goodnight instead of this fucking game!"

"Fine!" Ianto rose and raced for the door, pulling his jacket for the stand, then he turned to face Jack.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you anymore" he said sadly, "Maybe you shouldn't ask anymore. Not if you don't like some of them."

"Maybe you are right" Jack roared, "Maybe you should stop talking such shit to me! Or maybe I should just take your fucking head off!"

Ianto fled, up into the night and Jack was left feeling strangely defeated.

How the hell did he know about Alice?

And why had Ianto reared back as if struck before slipping away.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Ianto was silent the next day, wraithing around like he sometimes did and Jack felt strangely chastened as his cups of coffee arrived on time.

Owen had noticed the cooling between the men and he couldn't wait to stir the pot.

They settled to lunch and he saw his chance, complaining that the subway was the wrong one. He kept up the complaining until Ianto pushed his own over and rose, leaving the table.

None of the usual snapping or eye rolling. Owen looked at the two foot longs and felt a bit of a prick so he rose to make amends … well Owen style and found Ianto in the kitchen, gripping the sink with one head as the other smashed itself repeatedly against the marble bench top.

"Fuck!" Owen exploded, grabbing the hand and struggling with the irate Welshman who seemed stronger than he thought as he easily extracted himself from his grasp and stood glaring at him.

"What the fuck was that!" Owen demanded.

"Fuck off Owen, I don't need your fake concern right now" Ianto's voice was deeper, more broughish than usual and Owen blinked as Ianto's rage seemed to fill the room.

Owen placed the foot long down on the table and tried to make it seem like he was not as intimidated as he was, "You need to eat too."

"Not really" came the hissed reply, "I've starved before. Nothing new there. I don't NEED to eat at all."

Ianto fled the kitchen and Owen frowned as he wondered what the hell that was.

He followed him to his lower office, settling against the desk.

"What was that?" he asked softly, "Do you have an eating disorder you never told me about?"

"I'm fine" Ianto said stiltedly as he picked up some files and started checking their classification numbers.

"Ianto … I was playing. You usually snap back and I eat it while pretending it's not as enjoyable as we both know it is." Owen was trying to understand and Ianto saw his concern.

"Jack and I had a disagreement last night" Ianto said calmly, "it's not sitting well, OK? I'll be fine. I forgot for a moment who he is. Who I am. I said something and he reacted. I remember him now. I feel that Webley against my forehead, I hear him telling me he is going to put me down. "

Ianto stopped walking and looked at the ceiling, "Funny how you can forget a slight like that."

"A slight?" Owen snorted.

"I've been told worse" Ianto shrugged, "Not the fact he was about to kill me that stays … the fact that for a moment I had thought he wouldn't. A moment of weakness, thinking I mattered to someone else, a lapse in judgment, now corrected. I am not supposed to be here."

"That was a bad day for everyone mate" Owen said softly as he realized Ianto was not going to eat.

"I've had a few of those in my lifetime." Ianto turned to look at him, "I remember every one. Every slight, every insult, every small death. Why do I forgive him when he was one of the most hurtful? Because he saved me? He cuts you and then sews up his impulsive wounding so you forgive?"

"He's Jack" Owen shrugged, "And you didn't die."

"You think?" Ianto raised an eyebrow and smiled condescendingly at Owen, "Do you? Do you think I didn't die that day?"

Ianto sighed and went back to filing as Owen stared at him, unable to answer as he thought of Katie and the way something in him died with her.

"Please eat this, at least half it" Owen said softly as he rose to leave, "For me?"

"I'm fine Owen" Ianto said with a sigh, "That's the point. I always am."

Owen walked back up to the main hub and found Jack sitting at his workstation playing with his stress ball.

"Is he OK?"

"He's the T-Boy. Who can really tell." Owen shrugged, "He says you two had words. I think he's feeling a bit jaded towards you."

Jack rose from the chair and turned back as Owen snorted.

"Never thought I'd see the day. Ianto is afraid of you" Owen informed him, then enjoyed the way Jack grimaced.

Jack walked down to the archives and found Ianto standing stock still, staring at a wall.

"Ianto?"

To Jack's surprise Ianto actually jumped as he swung to look at him, fear in his eyes before he cleared his throat and corrected himself. "Sir?"

"Everything OK?" Jack asked, looking at the bags that were by Ianto's' feet. Kit bags of some sort he had never seen before.

"Spring cleaning Sir" Ianto smiled politely, "Time for a change, so …uh … preparing."

"Oh. OK" Jack nodded, "Are we OK here?"

Ianto blinked as he stared at him silently.

"Ianto?"

"Everything is fine Sir" Ianto said calmly, "Anything you need?"

"No. Thank you" Jack turned and walked out, leaving Ianto to slump with relief as he looked at the bug-out bags.

It had been silly to have them out in the open like that but he thought after Owen he would have the afternoon to go through them.

It was getting close, time to go.

Ianto lifted the bags and set them in the small butler's elevator by his desk so they would rise to the car park.

Time to prepare for the next life.

He knew his time here was done.

He had stayed too long.

For a wasted love.


	8. Chapter 8

8

It had been a simple retrieval, then … just like that … it wasn't.

All that mattered was Tosh, struggling beside him and he fought to keep her above the water, cursing old storm water drains and weather in general.

"We're coming, hang on" Jack's voice was tinny in their ears as their coms pinged in and out due to the water damage that seeped into them.

Ianto looked up at the hole they had fallen into as the old cover had given way, long since hidden with peat moss and he cursed again as he felt his feet slipping on the log he was using as a stopper, knowing that if it went, the strength of the water running around his legs would take him under.

And Tosh couldn't swim.

Ianto grunted and tightened his hold on her waist, snuggled against his chest as her hands rested on his shoulders.

"Please hurry" she sobbed, "The water is still rising and Ianto is slipping."

"It's OK" Ianto said softly, "I wouldn't let you go little sister."

Tosh whimpered as she looked down at him, knowing he would die before she went under and touched his cheek, "Oh Ianto. Hang on."

.

.

.

The level had risen, it was now tickling her palms as it lapped around his shoulders and she was panting with fear as he groaned and shifted his grip once more.

"I won't let you go little blossom" he whispered. "I will not fail you sister."

The sound of yelling, faint on the wind and she sobbed as she yelled with all her worth.

Then they were there, the water tickling his earlobes as the rope was lowered and Tosh grabbed for it, then screamed as Ianto let go.

She was OK.

She would be OK.

Jack had hold of the rope and she was OK.

Ianto let go.

.

.

.

Tosh was crying as Owen held her, wrapping her in blankets and there was still no sign of Jack who had leapt into the hole after the Welshman.

The cavern waters swept, swirled and Jack was slammed against walls more than once, his pain making him cry out as he felt bones breaking with the impacts.

It was dark and despite his screaming, he heard no reply.

As the water pulled him under his last thought was that he had failed.

.

.

.

He woke to the feeling of arms around him as Ianto hugged him from behind, curled around him like a huge cat.

"Yan?"

"Shhhh, don't talk. Conserve your strength. Talking releases heat." Ianto hissed, hugging him tighter. "We have to go back in the water, just a little further, I can hear the sea."

Jack groaned as Ianto rolled them both off the small shelf and into the cold, making Jack gasp and he heard Ianto's gasp as well.

They shot out of the old drain, airborne and Owen's scream echoed as he spotted them.

Soon they were in the back of the SUV in survival blankets as Owen checked them over and told them he was amazed to find only bumps and bruises.

"That was intense!" Jack finally said, his teeth still chattering as the near naked Welshman snuggled against him, Tosh asleep on the other side.

"Let's not do that one again" Ianto said softly, "Drowning is such a horrid way to go."

"Yeah" Jack huffed, "drowning sucks the big one."

"Sir?"

"Yeah?" Jack asked, reaching to pull Ianto closer and enjoying the smooth skin under his fingertips.

"Why did you do that? You could have easily grabbed me coming out, like Owen did?" Ianto asked, his eyes boring into Jack's.

"Maybe I didn't want you to die in there!" Jack said softly, "Maybe I would rather go with you than you go alone."

Ianto's surprise was palpable as he stared at Jack, the confusion in his eyes as he tried to understand.

"But … you want to kill me. You hate me. Why … why say such things. Why play with me as a cat toys with a mouse?" Ianto whispered sadly, "I do not understand you at all. Of all the humans I have encountered, you are the most … complex."

Jack smiled and whispered, "I'll take that as a compliment."

He pulled Ianto in under his chin and closed his eyes as the SUV tore for the hub and hot showers.

It was not until later, under the shower that Jack recalled those words.

"Of all the Humans"


	9. Chapter 9

9

Jack was still mulling over that strange conversation, both of them hypothermic and babbling without filtering their thoughts.

Ianto thought he wanted to kill him.

He feared him.

He called him a human.

Not a person.

A human.

Ianto was wraithing again, this time with a rubbish bag, calmly extracting tissues from Tosh's workstation as she sneezed again and groaned.

"I told you to go home!" Owen demanded from the top step of the autopsy bay, "You are sick. Go home and rest ya mad mare!"

"I'm fine" she croaked.

"Come on Tosh, I'll take you home" Gwen offered, swinging to look at her with concern, "Your voice is going now."

"But Ianto and Jack are fine, why am I the only one sick!" she huffed as she struggled with Ianto to take a laptop.

"Jack and I are men. We have more body mass. Besides, you were alone in the survival blankets longer, plus I've had all my flu shots and stuff, same as Jack" Ianto argued, still trying to relieve her of her work, "Damn it woman, you are supposed to go home and rest!"

"I need to finish these!" she wailed and Ianto sighed as he relented.

"So stubborn!"

"Well, you're one to talk. You would have stood forever in that water for me" she smiled as she patted his arm.

"Well. You are important!" he said softly, "I would never forgive myself if I let you down."

"Oh Ianto, you will never let me own" she laughed, "I know that."

"Ianto? Coffee?" Jack asked as the two women left and Owen finally spoke.

"Neither of you had any shots. Neither of you have ever had shots" he said calmly as he regarded them both, "Jack, I know you heal quickly and have your advanced bloody DNA or whatever but that doesn't explain the T-Boy. You two should have died. Drowned and definitely broken from the force of that water."

"What makes you think that was our first rodeo?" Ianto asked, "Did it ever occur to you that I liked white water rafting in my youth? Black water caving? Parkour? You seriously think I let myself go thinking I was going to die? Owen, I have been trained in how to maneuver in fast moving water for Godsake!"

"Oh" Owen said in a small voice, "You have told me about the Parkour stuff."

"And I've told you about rock climbing and caving" he said as he finished sanitizing Tosh's workstation.

"Yeah. After the cannibals. You did say you knew orienteering and stuff too, that was how you tracked the SUV." Owen sighed, "Even with the PDA I would have been walking in circles."

"My grandfather loved the outdoors. Camping, caving, rafting, god .. I can even hang-glide!" Ianto laughed, "Hated parachuting though. Too much falling involved."

"Fuck ! I would never do that, I hate heights" Owen grimaced.

"I hate the thought of being buried alive more" Ianto offered, "Someone thinking you dead and putting you in a box, burying you so deep you can't fight out of it."

"Fuck. Aren't you a sweet little burst of sunshine!" Owen laughed.

"Is that the worst?" Jack asked softly, surprised to find Ianto played the death game with Owen as well. "Is there one you fear?"

"Only one." Ianto huffed.

"One? Better than boiling alive in a vat of cooking oil?" Owen asked.

"Only one death that would be the end of me. Only one thing I fear" Ianto shrugged.

"Don't tell me. An exploding Coffee machine!" Owen snorted and Ianto laughed.

"Yes Owen. An exploding Coffee Machine would be the worst way to go!" Ianto conceded, his hand going to the back of his neck as it does when he is flustered.

He had taken it too far.

Jack was right there, his eyes piercing as he did not join the laughter.

He was beginning to see him.

Not good that, to let the mask slip so often.

Ianto knew he was getting too comfortable, starting to love this team too much.

It made him vulnerable.

It was time.

Ianto swallowed hard as he accepted the simple fact that it was time to go.

He had to prepare.

It was time for Ianto Jones to die.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Ianto didn't know which god was playing with him but he did know he was well over it as he struggled with his restraints again.

Jack was still unresponsive but Owen was now showing signs of life as his moans upset Tosh even more.

"Hush" Ianto whispered, "Gwen is almost here."

"Great" Owen's sigh filled the room, "Our lives, depend on the bloody ex-plod."

"I bet you don't call her that when you're fucking" Tosh snarled in an uncharacteristic rage.

Ianto knew it was a hallucinogenic used, still in her system as she blinked furiously at them but it was still surprising to hear vulgar language coming from her little self.

"What the fuck are they" Owen struggled briefly, then had a three year old tantrum as he strained against the ropes, then stilled in defeat.

"Don't know" Ianto said truthfully, "Not seen these before. Similar to Dercinolts, but the wrong colour. These are blue skinned."

"Fercincolts" Jack rasped, coughing as he woke, "They are from the neighboring system and sort of a bull dog compared to a pit bull. Same thought processes, same fighting style, same system of rule."

"Nice" Ianto said dryly.

"Sound off, injuries?" Jack was awake, now looking intently at his team.

"My ankle" Tosh said softly, "They dragged me and I was kicking."

"Yeah, I feel blood in my hair so I have a head injury" Owen supplied.

"I'm fine" Ianto said after a pause, "I think I can get out if you all bear with me."

They all watched as Ianto writhed like a snake, the ropes falling as he rose to pant beside them.

"You just dislocated your fucking shoulder!" Owen accused, "I bloody heard the pop."

"Got out, didn't I?" Ianto snorted, swinging the arm and the loud pop of it reseating was followed by a sharp bark of pain from Ianto, then he knelt and started on Jack's ropes.

"Nic trick" Jack said, watching Ianto's face for pain.

"Saw it on Lethal Weapon 2, Sir" he answered, his eyes flicking up to meet Jack's in silent rebuke.

 _Quiet._

Jack held his gaze for a moment, then nodded to show he understood what Ianto wanted and started asking Tosh for her thoughts on their captors.

Ianto soon had Jack free and was working on Tosh as Jack freed Owen when the door clanked.

"Fuck!" Jack struggled back to the restraints and laid them over himself to look like he was bound and looked over at Ianto, gaping as he watched Ianto crouch and snarl instead of following suit.

"What are you fucking doing!" Jack hissed.

"If they are the same, they kill the same way" Ianto answered as if reading out a shopping list, "Beheading."

"Yeah. Hence the large swords they are going to swing at you, you bloody fool!" Jack snarled, "Get down."

"Nope" Ianto said with a flick of his head, "Sorry sir, I can't' do that. I cannot die today."

The door was open and Ianto was moving, low and fast as he moved under the blades, popping up and slamming his head up into the chin of one of the guards, grabbing the sword as the guard fell and swinging it gracefully in a slow arc.

Jack watched a sword fight that was so graceful that he forgot for a few minutes that he was free as well.

Ianto was moving like a dancer, the large broadsword looked like it had been made for him as he slid it into an eye socket, then checked another incoming sword as the room started to fill.

Jack joined in and they were soon standing in a bloodbath, both panting and laughing softly with pent up nerves as Owen and Tosh clung to each other.

"Well. That was exhilarating" Ianto quipped, swinging the sword with his wrist, showing Jack he was more than comfortable.

"Fencing? You grandfather as well?" Jack asked with a grin and Ianto looked at him with a patient stare.

"Sir. I think at this stage we both know there is more to me than you know." Ianto said softly, "Not now. Let's get out of here before Gwen gets herself captured and we have to fight all over again."

"You will explain this?" Jack asked.

"Sir" Ianto said as he stepped closer, "If I survive, I will tell you everything."

Jack nodded and they moved forward, finding the outer guards were not at all clever or connected to the inner guard's coms.

Another sword fight and Jack was beginning to enjoy himself.

They were almost done, even Gwen firing some good shots after getting over her shock at the reception, when Jack looked over at Ianto and called out in alarm as a guard flanked Tosh behind him.

Ianto swung to look at him with alarm as he threw Tosh to one side, barely having time to register Jack's horror before the blade slid between his ribs and Jack screamed as he fell.

Right there, in the purple blood and gore of battle, as it had been for centuries.

A soldier fell.

Ianto Jones died.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Jack was silent.

Nothing to say really as he stood by Ianto's body while Owen cleaned it and sewed the mortal wound back together.

Jack couldn't get out of his head those final moments.

Ianto's face, the look of … apology?

Jack had held him as he had drowned in his own blood, his hand covering Jack's on his chest as he struggled to say something.

Jack hadn't quite caught it.

Something about a thousand years.

"Clean" Owen muttered, "Between the ribs, straight into the lung, then heart. Surgical. He didn't feel a thing Jack, honest."

"Jack?" Gwen was nervously leaning over the handrail, trying not to look at the naked body in his arms.

"What" his voice was flat.

"There's some fella here claiming to be Ianto's cousin. Apparently he wants to take him." She said, "I didn't know his sister would move this fast."

"What are you talking about?" Jack finally turned to look at her and she was relieved to see a towel covering Ianto's manhood.

"I rang his sister, as per the instructions on his death card. She had rung their cousin who is up top demanding the body" she said slowly, "Some ancient custom where he must be taken back to ancestral ground or something."

"Shit" Jack knew his voice broke on the word but he had hoped for more time.

"Fuck!"

Jack roared upstairs to find a man calmly waiting inside the tourist office without an ounce of surprise as the wall opened.

His coat swished as he pivoted on his heel to look at Jack, his ponytail slicked and well kept. This man had an air of … grace.

"Captain Jack Harkness, Leader of Torchwood" Jack said, hoping this would put the man on a back foot but the man merely raised an eyebrow, much as Ianto does.

Did.

Used to.

Gods.

"I am here for him" the man spoke calmly, the welsh tones muted.

"And if there is nothing to give?" Jack straight-faced, "What if his remains were so badly damaged there is nothing left?"

"Then I would know" the man said with equal flatness, although Jack detected a slight air of … amusement?

"He's never spoken of you!" Jack accused, "Rhia only once, his niece and nephew only when asking for the afternoon off for the birthday parties, and he always came back quieter then when he left for them."

"That relationship is nothing to do with me." The man frowned, "Rhia was always an awkward child and Ianto always …."

Jack saw something flicker across the face, annoyance.

"I don't have much time, please" he man finally said, "Do I have to go higher?"

Jack grinned, canting his head as he slid his hands into his pockets, "I'm answerable to no one!"

"Really?" now the man smiled and Jack saw Ianto's predatory grin he usually had just before a winning move at chess.

The man handed over an envelope and Jack snatched it, looking down at the royal seal with shock.

"Her Majesty warned me that you like to play. I am sorry Captain, today I am not into any games even if I do like to play under other circumstances." The man shrugged, "Please. Give me my ….cousin."

A hesitation.

Slight but there.

"No"

Jack swung to leave and paused as the cold steel bit into his Adams apple, the sword looked ancient yet finely kept.

"You will get Ianto or I will take him and I assure you, I shall succeed. "

Jack stepped back with shock and raised a hand to swipe at the blood, then look at his fingers as his throat sealed slowly.

"Valerian steel" the man said calmly, "nothing finer or sharper. Nice party trick by the way, I usually do card tricks myself."

Jack glared at him and then Owen appeared with a trolley, Ianto laid out.

"I didn't have time to bag him with all this bloody shit, the girls don't need to see you bleed everywhere as well. Not today" Owen said defiantly to Jack, "Just let him go."

The man stepped forward and scooped the body into his arms as if it was a feather comforter and walked out, to a waiting vehicle.

"Where will you bury him?" Jack called out and the man swung to look at him with surprise.

"What makes you think I would do that? He hates burials." The man said with sudden anger, "Been there, done that. I promised he would never suffer one again!"

Jack was not completely flummoxed as the man moved to the driver's door.

"Wait! I don't even know your name" Jack struggled to keep Ianto in sight, just a moment more.

"Duncan" the man spat as he slammed the door and turned the key.

"Duncan McLeod."


	12. Chapter 12

12

Jack knew he was being morose but he couldn't shake the morbid feeling as the entire team seemed to shy from him and his anger.

Maybe he shouldn't have kicked the workstation while Owen was working at it and he knew Myfanway's constant screaming for release until he relented and opened the skylight was not helping.

Now she was gone and the silence seemed to echo.

Gwen was the first to crack, rising from her chair and asking for the rest of the day. Jack gave them all the day, intending to hide away and lick his wounds …well, drink some scotch anyway.

Lick.

Swallow.

Same difference.

Duncan McLeod.

Why was that niggling at him so much?

Jack found himself wandering across the Plass, chewing over the events that had cost him his head archivist.

His team member.

His …

Focus.

Duncan McLeod.

McLeod.

Connor McLeod.

Connor McLeod of the clan McLeod.

Duncan McLeod.

Huh.

Jack was moving quickly as he struggled to remember where the business card was for Connor, his antique shop a firm favorite. Finally Jack was sitting at his desk with the card in his shaking hand as he dialed, then waited.

"Connor McLeod speaking" came a low gravelly voice and Jack found himself smiling.

"Connor. It's Jack Harkness, remember me?" Jack asked and the barking laughter told him that he was, indeed remembered.

"Well, what can I do for you then, Jackie" Connor asked happily, "You and I've not broken bread since … what. Just before the Millennium."

"A lot had happened since then old friend" Jack sighed.

"What is wrong?" Connor asked softly, hearing his old friend's pain.

"I lost someone" Jack whispered. "Why must we always love."

"It is the curse of the immortal" Connor replied, "To love, to lose, to be left behind. Although we are not of the same elk, we have always walked the same path my friend."

"Drink?"

"I have … ah. A cousin is staying and …" a sigh as Jack felt something happening and then, "Yes. A drink then. Come to me, you remember where my London shop is?"

"I'll be there before sunrise." Jack said, rising and pulling his coat on as he wrote a brief note to Owen.

As the connection was cut Jack thought he heard something in the background. A voice, asking Connor what was happening in Gallic.

It sounded … like music.

Gods, he was hearing things.

He pulled up outside the store, seeing the light on and hastened to the door, looking both ways before touching the keypad and letting his palm print open the door, and slipping inside to the instant heat.

"Connie?"

He was walking towards the back where the private quarters were when he heard steel striking steel and he was running before it even registered.

Connor was locked in battle with another, lithe and lean, this man seemed to have the upper hand and Connor slipped, falling to a knee and looking up with shock as the sword swung for his neck.

Jack screamed as he struggled for the Webley and it rose to fire, finding both man on their feet with swords lowered and a look of surprise.

"You are here early" Connor finally said, stepping forward, "You were driving too fast again."

Jack didn't answer, too busy staring at the opponent now calmly sheathing the sword and pulling on his shirt, covering his smooth skin.

Ianto Jones finally looked up, back at him and grimaced before turning away.

"So you win again cousin" Connor called out, "Your feet are still moving too slowly."

"Really?" Ianto swung to glare at him, his welsh lit exaggerated in anger, "Then why were you on your knees again Connor!"

"Touché my love" Connor laughed, "Well played."

Jack sat heavily as it all finally made sense.

All those deaths.

All those stories.

Ianto had never lied.

He was hiding in plain sight the whole time.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Ianto was pouring a glass of wine and he turned to look at Jack through his lashes, like a predator.

"Ianto?" Jack said softly, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Ianto snorted, "That I am an immortal locked in a game of murder by decapitation?"

"Jesus" Jack huffed as he accepted a glass and sat heavily.

Ianto sighed and looked into his glass as he considered his next move.

"We move on. We must. A time comes when the cover story fails, the skin does not wrinkle. The hair does not fade." Ianto looked at Jack over his glass as he took a sip and saw Jack's silent amusement.

"The first time I woke, I was so confused" Jack laughed softly, "Like … it was some sick cosmic joke. Unlike you, I had no one to help, to guide me and I just rampaged across space and time like a lunatic."

Ianto's turn to sit and listen.

"I am not of your kind, but I share your gift" Jack explained, "I am immortal. I cannot die. Ever. You know this."

"Decapitation?"

"Would rather not try it but, have had a partial. No. I don't think anything would kill me. I was burnt pretty badly once" Jack offered.

"That was gross" Connor laughed as he entered and sat, motioning for a glass of his own.

"You knew him then?" Ianto asked.

"I have known this rouge for …" Connor canted his head as he seemed to consider, looking very Ianto-like and Jack realized this was why he had liked Ianto that first time they met. "Two hundred years, and some change?"

"Yeah." Jack nodded, "About that."

"I am Ianto McLeod of the Clan McLeod." Ianto said solemnly, "I was born in 1642."

"Jesus" Jack said wiry shock, "Are you telling me you're older than me?"

Ianto snorted.

"Almost four hundred years" Jack said softly as Ianto glanced at Connor and Connor laughed in that guttural bark of his.

"Depends on timelines my old friend. Ianto has …traveled." Connor finally said, "I have no idea how old my cousin is. He will never tell me."

Ianto was now openly watching Jack's face and Jack sighed as he stared back, "Are we talking about the Doctor?"

Ianto grimaced and rose from his chair, "Not enough wine for that conversation about the mad man."

"Mad man in a box" Jack sighed, letting his head fall back.

Ianto refilled their glasses and Connor looked at Ianto again, "Where is your brother?"

"Don't ask me" Ianto sighed as he plonked his boots up on the table and lean back in his chair, "Duncan is his own man."

Connor shrugged and took another mouthful, then frowned, "Why am I drinking wine? Did you not say there is mead?"

"Jack doesn't like mead" Ianto chastised, "And there is no scotch!"

"By the seven moons!" Connor spluttered, "You never care for your drinking mates!"

"Jack was not a drinking mate" Ianto said angrily, "He was my bed mate!"

"Was?" Connor asked, watching Jack's face falling.

"I'm burned!" Ianto said with open sorrow, "I have no choice but to move to my next life, Cousin."

"But ..." Jack struggled to his feet, "What if I am not ready for you to go?"

Ianto gaped.

"Torchwood baby," Jack leered, "If I can't have a team member come back for the dead for a change what the hell is the point?"

"And they will just accept that" Ianto said calmly, "I die one day and ask for the lunch orders the next?"

"They accept me, they will accept you" Jack said with a huff and Ianto looked at him dubiously.

"And how do we explain it? I say I am my own twin brother of the same name?" Ianto's words dripped with sarcasm, "Because the last time I looked, this was not an episode of 'Allo 'Allo', Sir."

Jack grinned and then told him. "We say it's classified!"

"Right"

"Come on" Jack begged, "I need you! Myf loves you, Janet tolerates you and you drive Owen crazy. All my pets need you!"

"Sir, you just included Owen in the 'pet' category" Ianto said then shrugged, "Well … I guess he does fit there."

"Ianto, come on. A chance to live in plain sight?" Jack offered, "I already have a legend circulating that alien tech is keeping me young, we can say it's an STD, I fucked you immortal or something."

"For that, you need to fuck me at least to death" Ianto laughed and Jack grinned back.

"Challenge accepted!"

Connor laughed and slapped the table as Ianto groaned and face palmed.

Jack was not going to back down.

Ianto was strangely pleased.


	14. Chapter 14

14

Ianto begged a couple of days rest, he might not have been beheaded but he did die, and it did hurt.

Jack understood, knowing the way the Highlanders worked and he left for home with a song on the radio to sing along to at full blast.

They had agreed, Ianto had agreed and Jack was not going to let him regret it.

He entered the hub where Tosh was clicking a pen as Owen glared at her from his workstation.

"Tosh, meeting room in five" Jack said as he skipped past and she looked up in surprise as Gwen rose and followed him to his office.

"So that's it is it?" she demanded and Jack turned with surprise to face Gwen's ire.

"Ianto!" she spat, "You go away, get lathered and that's it? Or did you just get your rocks off!"

Jack blinked and then tried not to laugh at her look of open fury.

"Meeting" he repeated, pointing at the meeting room, "I have news and we will discuss things."

Gwen stormed across the landing and he took a moment to calm himself, then followed.

He entered the room and looked around, then cleared his throat as he brought up an image of a Highlander, one who had fallen to the sword years ago.

"He was immortal. Born in the Highlands of Scotland three hundred years ago, he was not alone. There are others like him - some good, some evil. For centuries, they have battled the forces of darkness, with Holy Ground their only refuge. They cannot die, unless you take their heads, and with it, their power. They are called Highlanders." Jack watched for reactions, and then clicked an image of himself in a foxhole with a man who was laughing, despite the blood and mud covering them both.

"World war I," click to another image, "World War II and this was Vietnam"

The third image was Jack in a swamp with the man handing him a cake of chocolate.

In all the photos the two men were eerily the same, not aged a day.

"Connor McLeod of the Clan McLeod" Jack smiled, "Cousin to …"

"Duncan McLeod!" Tosh said as she got the connection, "The one who came for Ianto's body."

"Yes" Jack said as he settled to wait for them to process.

"So … Ianto knew this man?" Gwen said as she stood, "Did he know this .. what … alien?"

"Yes. They are not cousins as he claimed though" Jack nodded.

"No, I should think not" Gwen spat, leaning over the table.

"They are brothers."

Jack watched Owen as he stopped fiddling with a pen and then turned to watch Tosh's face drop.

"Jack … what are you saying?" Gwen asked as she sank back into her chair.

"I am saying that on Monday Ianto McLeod is going to enter this hub and resume his place in this team and you are all going to be polite and friendly." Jack said slowly.

Owen was the first to speak, "Fuck me!"

"He didn't want you to know like this, he didn't want you to know at all. He was ready to run. I have convinced him to come back, that you will all still treat him the same." Jack leaned forward, "He has been crucified for his gift. I know how that feels. Being immortal can make you quite a target."

"We have never looked at you with fear or …" Gwen started to complain as she stood again.

"A long time ago a lover reacted to the knowledge by selling me out and subjecting me to multiple deaths by torture as I became a curiosity to those who had no morals" Jack rose as well, "I died a thousand deaths but his betrayal was the hardest to take. He broke my heart."

Gwen slumped into her chair.

Owen looked her up and down and Jack knew he was thinking of a good snark or Jack-in-a-box quip and didn't want the flare up.

"Ianto is still Ianto, the man who makes coffee, cleans up and tells you all about his many lives and deaths without fear. Don't make him regret that. Don't make me." Jack started to walk from the room and turned to address them once more, "And let's not forget that he did die for you."

He left them to chew on that and went back to his office as he had his own matters to attend to … and chew over.

Ianto was immortal.

He seems to like Jack... At least ... Was there a chance for something more?

He and Connor had tried a fling but had agreed that they were not compatible. Ianto was different; he had shown definite interest in Jack, both on a companionship level as well as sexually.

Was there a chance he might convince him to stay?

Forever?

Obviously the hub was a place of sanctuary for Ianto, undetectable from above and Jack knew this was one of the reasons he must have stayed after Lisa. So hurt, so broken and now Jack knew, nursing a death or two at the hands of his beloved fembot.

Jack also knew the bunker was no good, too small for two men and no room for the extra baggage a Highlander carries.

Gods.

Jack rose the headed down to the lower levels in search of appropriate sleeping quarters.

Also a sparring area, as Jack's glee at having a sparring partner that could match him started to sink in as well.

If Ianto agrees, this might just work.


	15. Chapter 15

15

Ianto straightened his tie and walked into the hub, looking furtively at the team as they shouted out to each other and scuttled about.

Something was happening.

He paused and wraithed into the shadows as he listened to the chatter.

A box on Tosh's desk was making a noise, something he remembered from somewhere and he searched his memory for what it was, finally remembering the one T1 had played with once.

Damn.

"You need to find a blue button before it blows up" Ianto said loudly and the entire party ground to halt.

Jack scooped up the piece of tech from Tosh's desk and threw it, Ianto catching it without blinking and calmly twisting it like a Rubik's Cube and then pressing something as the high pitched beeping stopped. He then casually lobbed it back to Jack.

Owen fell back in his seat, "Thank fuck for the T-boy!"

"Thank you Owen" Ianto said dryly as he swung the cloak off his shoulders and turned to hang it up.

"Fuck!" Owen barked, "What is that!"

"It's called a sword little man" Ianto swung around, fluidly unsheathing the blade and placing it against the side of the shoes on Owen's desk, "And I believe we have already had a discussion about shoes on furniture!"

Owen blinked, then started to laugh as he lowered his feet and watched the sword disappear behind Ianto into its scabbard again.

"Nicely done" Owen said as he grinned up at Ianto.

"Had time to practice" Ianto winked and Owen found himself snorting with mirth. This was not the shy reserved Welshman he was used to.

Jack was waiting for him and walked him past Gwen who seemed to be struggling with something. Ianto knew she wanted to start a conversation and was pleased Jack had seen this as well.

"This way Ianto, I have something to show you" Jack said, grabbing him and pulling him past her before she could formulate her sentence.

Jack was propelling him down through the levels and Ianto started to struggle, pulling his arm away with growing alarm until Jack stopped and turned to face him with confusion.

"Jack" Ianto said softly as he backed away from him and Jack suddenly saw the level they were on.

"No, no, no" Jack held his hands out "not the cells, Gods Ianto, I never thought bringing you past here, no. Not the cell block, a level down."

Ianto looked at Jack and decided to trust him, following him down to another area.

A huge open room that seemed to echo with their footsteps.

"I know it's not much at the moment but I've just managed to clear it out. Some paneled screens for walls? We could have a sleeping area in the back and mats over here for sparring, and a few sofas in this corner …" As Jack spoke he danced about the warehouse sized area, showing each defined section as he spoke of it.

Ianto could see it, the layout would work.

"I would need some things ...I have some stuff in storage in London that might work well down here. Some swords and display cases of stuff, trinkets."Ianto swiveled on the spot as he looked around, "This could work."

Jack knew he was grinning like the Cheshire cat but he didn't care.

Ianto was soon distributing coffee, his nervousness showing as he placed a mug on Gwen's desk and waited for her response.

There was none.

Ianto blinked and then moved away as Jack frowned at the back of Gwen's head when he saw that she hadn't completely accepted things.

Tosh's smile was warm and Owen was the usual 'Ta' as he played a computer game that had Ianto shaking his head fondly.

Ianto looked up at Jack as he leaned over the railing outside his office and smiled softly, enjoying the grin back.

He wasn't sure and still had his back-out plans in place but … this might work.

He knew Jack was hoping and maybe it was contagious but he was hoping too.

It had been a long time since he had felt this safe.

Outside of Connor and Duncan's eye, in a place so open.

Yes.

This could work.


	16. Chapter 16

16

It was a long drive to the London lock-up and Ianto was bored as he listened to Jack's show tunes. Shirley bloody Temple was starting to grate and the good ship lollipop might be about to get stomped.

God, the time was going to lag.

Ianto tried to think of a distraction as Jack started humming to a Cats one. Then he burst into song

"Memories. All alone in .."

Ianto cleared his throat to silence the attack.

"Have you ever …."

Jack perked up as Ianto turned the music down and turned to look at him.

"Have you ever woken from a death and not realized you'd died at first?" Ianto asked and Jack nodded.

"Drinking mostly" he admitted, "The hangover the same as the reset."

"Mmm." Ianto hummed, "I once died of poisoning and didn't know. Thought that it was the wine being off that gave me the head."

Jack waited for it, hoping.

"In a previous life, like."

Jack resisted the urge to grin as he made an appropriate noise of interest.

"A lover who apparently had another lover. They spent months working it out. What I was worth, who might get in the way. How to make it look like a suicide, how to act, what to say." Ianto laughed, "Had a bloody little book with everything written down so they'd not forget. So imagine, if you will."

Jack was trying.

I had the evening meal and a chocolate mousse followed that was so fluffy and extra sweet" Ianto grinned, "We had been curt with each other all week so it was a surprise that she had been considerate so I didn't comment on the taste."

"Arsenic?"

"Antifreeze" Ianto replied and Jack snorted.

"Never done that one." He admitted after a mental assessment of his many deaths.

"So I start to feel a bit Leary and she helps me to bed, does the kissing, smooching then climbs on board for a ride, which was seven more unusual as she usually doesn't like to be on top." Ianto was plucking at his trouser leg.

"In case they gave her a medical check, so she can say you were still in love" Jack said and Ianto nodded.

"So I drift off as she's having her way thinking she's a right daft mare tonight and I wake to find the sheet over my face."

"Shit" Jack snorted, "You'd carked it!"

"Apparently, although I was so hung over that I thought maybe I'd done it as the curtains were open. I stagger out of bed in my all-togethers, wander to the bathroom and pee, noting that I'm in me all-togethers, stagger about looking for a robe when I hear voices." Ianto tuned and waited.

"And?" Jack jigged in the seat.

Here's me woman on the phone, howling and screaming that I'm dead I've killed meself and some bloke I've never seen before comforting her while she does so. She sez I even left a note by me bed, so I go back up as I am most interested what my final words might be and find it by the bed" Ianto sniggered, "and a half glass of anti freeze on it."

"Christ, she was thorough" Jack laughed.

"I apparently said I was no good, had failed as a man and wanted her to have all my worldly possessions. Blah blah blah. Not too bad, the penmanship was terrible, not even close to my writing" Ianto pointed out.

"But you do have lovely penmanship" Jack demurred.

"So do you" Ianto smiled, "So anyway, the police arrive and she says she can't go up, she can't bear to see me like that so I gleefully clamber back into bed and wait."

Jack started to snigger as he got the scene, Ianto's evil grin as the sheet is pulled back up.

"They go in and of course she is there as well, wailing and shit, so I sit up and go 'shut up ya daft woman, I never seen you before in me life!' and the police jump, she screams and the boyfriend proceeds to grab the gun and try to shot me in front of the cops as he screams 'demon be gone' over and over again."

Jack was laughing as he pulled into a layaway and laid his head in his hands as they griped the wheel.

I'm still in my all-togethers, so I get up and start ranting that this man is not known to me and he's so traumatized that he says, 'but we killed you.' Then he turns to her and says 'but you poisoned him right? Before I shot 'im in the head?' and the police are just standing there." Ianto is laughing as well, large gawfs that were delicious to Jack's ears.

"What happened in the end?" Jack asked as he wiped tears away.

"They had them both committed as there was no trace of poison or a bullet and I still maintained that I didn't know them. Plus I said repeatedly that I was fine, as a medical showed. In the end they were convinced that there was an unsolved murder out there somewhere in and their psychotic state they had wandered into my house after doing the act somewhere else. One if the great unsolved crimes of Cardiff." Ianto sighed, "Was quite hurt really. Nor even worth a proper murder. So half-arsed."

"I know" Jack said with a pout, "Poor baby. Not even running you over in your own driveway like a grown-up."

"There!" Ianto pointed, "See? You get it. So rude! There is no pride in your work anymore!"

The two men started to laugh as Jack pulled back into traffic, relieved that the game had restarted.

He let his hand fall onto Ianto's thigh and was rewarded with Ianto's hand covering it in silence.

The rest of the drive to London was not nearly long enough.


	17. Chapter 17

17

The lockup was paid up for another ten years so Ianto calmly picked though what he wanted and shoved back the things not suitable.

Jack found a Webley the same as his and several antique cleaning kits, pleased when Ianto waved his hand distractedly and said there were even more in another box so he could grab a couple if he needed.

Then Ianto got behind the wheel and took them to the less popular side of town, an estate.

Jack remembered the projects from his journeys in America and these were the English version. He watched how pinched Ianto's face became as they passed through to several semi detached houses with a pitiful yard and a kid's playground stuck in the middle.

Ianto turned to Jack and went to speak, then sighed as he seemed to focus over his shoulder. Jack turned to look out the window and saw a little girl with blonde pigtails running towards them, one ribbon flowing behind her as she screamed with delight.

Now Jack knew why there was a china doll added to the pile as was as a wooden whistle.

"Hello my darling" Ianto crooned as he scooped Micha up and kissed her excited face, then pulled out the doll.

"Oh!" she clapped her hands and waited for him to offer it, then held it like it was a real baby.

"Didn't I promise you a baby next time?" he said happily, "She hasn't got a name yet though. That's for her mama to pick."

Then a roar started and Jack spun on his heel to see an overweight boy hurtling towards them with his arms pumping.

"Uncle Ianto!" he roared, throwing his arms around him and Ianto knelt to hug him back.

The whistle went down well as David rushed off into the house and Ianto stood on the front step like he was afraid to go in.

Jack knew how that felt.

Finally a solid woman appeared with a serious frown and she regarded them both, then turned and went back in.

Jack also knew that look.

"This is Jack, me boss" Ianto said as he settled in a large chair, and then grunted softly as Micha climbed into his lap and cuddled against him.

Jack watched Ianto's face as he spoke softly, rubbing her back and kissing her little hand that he was clasping in his own.

"How much was that doll" Rhiannon demanded as she placed cups down, "I hope you didn't spend much on it. She's probably gonna break it. You should 'a asked me first."

"Was just something I found in a box Rhi-rhi" Ianto said absently, "I don't care if it breaks, I can always get her another."

"Well. I just wish you might have thought to …"

The tirade about to start was cut off by the ear piercing noise of the whistle and she paled as she glared at her father.

"For his footy" Ianto smiled sweetly, "Boy has Talent."

"Bloody 'ell" a voice boomed and Jack watched Ianto's pinched look return as Johnny entered the room and looked at them, "Did you buy him that bloody thing?"

"Hello Jonathon" Ianto purred with a pronounced English drawl that seemed to irritate the man even more and Jack realized that Johnny didn't know Ianto was Welsh.

Jack wondered how long Ianto had played this game with the disliked son-in-law and stifled a snort of humor behind a cough, the wink from the naughty Highlander not helping the matter.

"And who's this then? One of your smarmy mates from the cricket club?" Johnny sneered and Jack bristled.

"Captain Jack Harkness" he let his American accent widen and watched the man's face change. "I am Ianto's employer. We are in town on business and he wanted to say hello. As it is not a good time, we'll be on our way."

Ianto looked gratefully at him as he rose and kissed the little girl again and awkwardly leaned over to kiss Rhiannon as well but she turned her head and started to gather the mugs up.

"Didn't even finish your drink" she huffed.

"So where are ya off to now" Johnny sniffed, "A poofter nightclub or something?"

Ianto did stop walking then and turn to gape at the horrid specimen as Jack decided he'd seen enough.

"Actually we're stopping off to see our Lizzie on the way back" he said calmly as he accepted his coat, loving the way Ianto ran his hands over the shoulders without thinking.

"Oh. You have family here too?" Rhiannon asked with surprise.

"Lizzie is an old family friend, yes" Jack grinned and Ianto sighed as he clicked.

"Where does she live then?" Rhiannon asked and Jack grinned wider.

"Well, she's in town at the moment as the flag is flying so, the palace in town there."

The silence was deafening as Ianto stepped forward and addressed his daughter.

"If I am so unsavory to you I will stop coming. I knew it would come to this eventually, we both did. Did I not tell you when you married him?" Ianto cocked his head, "Did you not promise it wouldn't as I accepted the simple fact that it would?"

"Let's go Yan" Jack said softly. "We'll get a cuppa at the palace."

"Yes Cariad" Ianto replied sadly his shoulders slumping as he turned away, "It's time to go."

Rhiannon stepped out onto the door step to watch Jack pull Ianto into a kiss, then hold the door as he climbed into the passenger seat. The defeat on his face was enough to break Jack's heart.

Jack climbed in and started the engine, pulling away as Rhiannon started to walk towards them.

Once they were a few blocks away, he pulled over and watched as Ianto struggled to breathe for a few minutes.

"You OK?" Jack said softly, "Never easy, calling time."

"Had to be done" Ianto said thickly, rubbing at his face, "would have to kill him otherwise."

"It seemed …" Jack hesitated, "It seemed like she was going to say something."

"We've been building up to it for a while. It's OK. Each time I say we're getting there she has an excuse, a reason for one more visit, one more chance. I don't have any more in me" Ianto let his head fall back against the headrest.

"It's our lot" Jack said softly, "To always have to give up a piece of our heart and move on."

"Yeah" Ianto's voice was so small that Jack wanted to hold him. "But I hate the letting go."

Instead he broke with tradition and put some Beethoven on rather than his usual show tunes, watching Ianto's face slowly relax.

The drive back to Cardiff was gentile and peaceful as Ianto snoozed.

Jack held his hand most of the way.

Not letting go.


	18. Chapter 18

18

"God, that looks ripe!" Owen crowed as he sniffed the rotting limb on a cadaver and Ianto balked.

"Gangrene?" Jack asked and Ianto nodded, even as Owen confirmed it.

"Horrible way to go" Ianto said softly.

"Yeah? I never did that one" Jack admitted, "Usually my wounds were mortal or I kept going."

"In a previous life, like … I was in the stocks" Ianto said, surprising everyone, "For … dipping my pen in another man's ink well, if ya know what I mean."

Jack blinked and then started to laugh.

"You slut you!" he chortled.

"I prefer … eager?" Ianto said as if deciding a title.

"So?" Jack prompted, "Who was she?"

"A lady .. god. How horrible. I died for her and I don't even remember her name" Ianto frowned, "Lady Harland or something. Was just a quickie and she wasn't even that good. Smelt of wet horse."

Now Jack was roaring as he motioned for Ianto to continue.

"So, as I said. I was getting me leg over, feeling through all those layers of skirts and bustle," Ianto sighed, "Remember all those fucking petticoats? Corsets and shit?"

"Lovely for a long night of love making, but hell for a quickie" Jack agreed as if Owen wasn't there and his head whipped back and forth with interest.

"She was a fiery redhead; I should have known she was a warbler." Ianto lamented.

"Shit. So you were discovered by her husband" Jack laughed.

"Worse, she was only eighteen and not wed" Ianto whispered.

"Shit! The intended?" Jack gaped.

"Some fancy lord so far up the king's arse I think it was his bed he was usually in" Ianto sniffed, "Why she wanted my dick."

"Baby, you forget. I know your dick and there is not a woman out there that would say no to that amazing piece of manhood!" Jack purred.

Ah, too kind" Ianto grinned.

"So?" Owen interrupted, dying to hear what happened.

"So…the intended heard us, went ape-shit and to save herself, she said I was forcing myself on her but she had fought me off" Ianto huffed, "Silly cow expected me to agree and save her honor."

"But you didn't" Jack asked.

"Did I heck!" Ianto laughed heartily, "I also said that the good lord was buggering his stable boy for good measure, the child's blush was confirmation to the gathering crowd."

Jack laughed and Ianto leaned forward.

"You wanna know the funny thing?" he asked with his eyes dancing with merriment, "That had been a bluff. I had no bloody idea it was true!"

"So, he demanded your head!" Jack asked and Ianto winced.

"Yeah. Couldn't have that now, could we!" Ianto pointed out "So I said I would gladly kneel to escape the stocks."

"Ah. Briar Rabbit!" Jack pointed at Ianto, "The old reverse psychology thing."

"Yep." Ianto grinned, "Only the bastard cut off three of my fingers as trophies"

Ianto looked at his hand as if the reassure himself that they were all there.

"Hence an infection site" Owen surmised, "How long did it take you to die?"

"After I suggested where they might fit?" Ianto raised an eyebrow, "Five days."

"Jesus"

"It's taken longer" Ianto shrugged, "But that was the most boring. Just kneeling there, day in, day out as my arm felt like it was on fire. Bloody flies."

"Shitty" Jack said as he watched Owen sniff the corpse again.

"Well, that sweet smell of infection is so distinct" Ianto said, "Reminds me of a battle field triage tent."

"Yeah, I remember those" Jack snorted.

"But that's a story for another time" Ianto said as he rose and stated to walk away.

"But you will tell me?" Jack called out and Ianto spun in his heel.

"Maybe."

"Aw, come on!" Jack called out, running after him as Owen looked at the corpse with distain.

It didn't half stink.


	19. Chapter 19

19

Jack was standing in the office staring out over the team with a morose look on his face.

Ianto knew the Unit call hadn't gone well and with the room still not ready downstairs they still hadn't spend a night together, not in the biblical sense.

Well, definitely non-biblical given Jack's proclivities, but you know what I mean.

Ianto stood watching for a while, then decided that this was a new life, right?

New rules.

New Ianto.

He strode into the room and placed the cups of coffee down, then stepped around to face Jack and canted his head.

Jack hadn't heard him enter and was surprised, blinking as he adjusted his gaze to those fathomless pits of mystery.

Ianto reached for Jack's buckle and unfastened his pants. "I don't understand why you even bothered to dress, this shirt is a terrible colour. Green is so not your colour sir."

Jack grunted with shock as his cock sprang free, bouncing against his abs and Ianto was suddenly fisting him with both hands. He sucked in a sharp breath, silently pleading with Ianto to let him fuck that mouth.

Yeah, this kind of restraint was not in his nature.

But he was trying to match the strange mood his love was in.

Ianto sank to his knees and Jack sighed with relief as Ianto eagerly licked around the tip, the skin pulled tight and throbbing for release.

A drop of cum beaded at the top and he greedily licked him clean.

Jack tried thrusting his hips to get inside that wicked mouth, but he held fast and refused to be rushed.

"Be patient. You'll get your turn to be in control later." Ianto eyed him wickedly as he arched his eyebrow.

"I don't give up control to anyone, Yan. It's not who I am." Jack tried for some false bravado.

"Then don't think about it as control. Instead you'll be letting me please you in my own way."

Jack was formulating an answer and was unprepared as Ianto suddenly deep throated him, his eyes rolling back as Jack gaped at the porn show.

With a moan Ianto engulfed him all the way to the back of his throat then let his teeth rasp on the back slide. "Ooh, fuck! Yes."

 _ **Oh, Gods.**_

Jack threw his head back, the tendons of his neck straining as he gripped the edge of the desk, his teeth grinding.

Then, just like that, the suction was gone and his dick was wet in a cooling room.

There was the unmistakable sound of a buckle hitting the floor.

When he opened his eyes all he saw was Ianto bent over with his ass up in the perfect position for him to take him.

Grasping his hips, he spread the cheeks of his ass, revealing the tight little hole.

Oh, how he wanted to explore that spot.

Without further hesitation, he drove himself into him in one hard thrust.

Ianto moaned and pushed back, so snug around him it was hard for him to think.

He was slamming into him, grunting with the effort as Ianto strained back to meet him

With no control over himself and the intense overload of Ianto's cries Jack reached down for Ianto's manhood slapping against the desk.

"I can't hold off much longer." Jack panted as Ianto started to writhe.

Jack heard himself scream as the passion flooded through him and Ianto started to cum over the desk in messy thick streams.

Both men laughed hoarsely as they cleaned up, Jack stealing another kiss as Ianto hummed against his chest.

"Gods, I needed that" Jack sighed as he stroked Ianto's cheek.

"Now, then" Ianto shot his cuffs and looked as impeccable as ever, even as Jack looked down at his half erect dick still hanging outside his open flies. "You get yourself under control and when you are ready …"

Ianto stepped in close so that the edge of his jacket brushed Jack's dick, leaning in so his breath tickled at Jack's ear as he whispered into it.

"You come downstairs to our room as the sparring mats are now in place coz I really want to beat the shit out of you. Sir."

Ianto stepped back and turned jauntily on his heel, then walked from the room as Jack panted and writhed against the desk.

Jack stood in silence. His jaw was jutted out, his bottom lip loose as he struggled with the images that sprang to mind.

He cursed softly as he looked down at his soldier standing to attention.

He had never recovered so fast, just the brush of the silk lining and a whisper.

Ianto knew he was doing that, leaving him like this.

Jack also knew he could no more follow him than dance naked in a cactus plantation.

He leaned back against the desk and groaned, lifting the cooling coffee and talking a deep gulp.

It would be some time before he felt in control enough to walk past the team without drawing attention to his dilemma.

But Gods, that Ianto Jones-McLeod was something else.

Jack's laughter boomed in the office and echoed around the hub as Owen looked up from his file and then went back to reading.

Just another day in the life.


	20. Chapter 20

20

Ianto was not kidding about sparring, his lean body already working as Jack entered and swore softly.

Loose track pants and a white singlet, those toned arms were swinging a katana like an extension of his body as Ianto swung, letting his body follow in a slow arc as his feet left the ground.

It was a display not only of prowess but of beauty and Jack was not aware that Owen had followed him until his hand gripped Jack's.

Jack turned to see Owen's eyes wide with shock as he took in the ethereal creature pirouetting, forward flipping and filling the entire space the mats covered with his feet and sword.

Then, he changed.

His fighting style became clipped, compact and short vicious jabs were accompanied with snarls, precise movements.

Owen's grip gradually fell away and he stepped closer, seeing those bare feet grip the mats, gain momentum then propel the body forward like the toes were claws.

Owen was mesmerized.

Jack smiled as he walked over to the sword rack and chose one he knew Ianto had tagged as practice only, not one he was attached to and he calmly toed off his boots, then entered the mats.

Immediately Ianto struck, making Jack yelp as he shot away from the blade and the sound it made cutting the air made Owen laugh nervously.

"Really sir?" Ianto panted, "I have to swap out, as this will mark the blade."

Ianto calmly walked to the rack and chose a sword similar to the one Jack had, then walked back flexing his wrist as the sword whirled like a baton.

Owen's mouth was open and his head whipped back and forth with delight as the two men bowed and then lunged he clasped his hands together with glee.

The sound of metal clashing, grunts and the occasional huff of laughter was all that was heard as they fought. Jack pleased that his years spend learning the craft at Connor's insistence was finally coming to fruition.

It was almost fifteen minutes later and Jack was starting to wane, when he saw the amusement flicker across Ianto's face and realized he was playing with him.

Jack stopped, stood and waved his free hand in surrender.

"You could keep going. Right?" he panted.

"The longest fight was four and a half hours" Ianto nodded, "Bastard really wanted my head."

"But you won, right?" Owen asked and Ianto couldn't help but laugh as Jack turned to gape.

"Owen, I am here. Yes, I won" Ianto explained, "When my kind fight, it is to the death."

"Fuck" Owen huffed, "No playing?"

"No. Not really. Well, no. You have friends who you trust, fight alongside but at the end of the day you have to protect your neck" Ianto shrugged.

"How old are you?" Owen asked and Ianto frowned as he considered.

"In earth years, given when I was born here, I'm over four hundred, but if you take into account the time I spent off-world, before jumping back in time … my timeline is over eight hundred, close to nine I think" Ianto said and Jack felt himself jolt at the admission that he was as old as the Doctor.

Ianto smiled and stepped off the mat, replacing the sword in the rack then stretched, "Gotta cool down now, I'll just do some jujutsu later."

"Well, I'll just go die over here" Jack panted as he collapsed where he stood and Ianto laughed as he retrieved his sword for him, leaning in to kiss him gently.

"Can I do that?" Owen asked.

"I'm sure Jack would welcome a kiss, yes" Ianto deadpanned and they laughed.

"I could teach you some sword fighting but I think you would do better with a long blade" Ianto turned with a large knife, "This is a Dirk. A Scottish Fighting Knife. With your smaller size you can dart in close, under the larger man's swing and deal a death blow to his ribs"

Owen stared at the knife, accepting it gingerly.

"I would be happy to teach you, ya know" Ianto smiled, "I think you should all have self defense, especially our damsel in distress."

"Unless it's drowning where she has her built in floating devices, yeah" Owen laughed, hefting the knife.

"Take it." Ianto instructed, "Carry it around, get the weight of it, I have a sheath here somewhere"

Ianto muttered to himself, then appeared with a belt sheath, "Here ya go. Get so you don't feel it against your hip, like Jack and the Webley. It's a part of you. I will teach you how to conceal it and extract it quickly."

"That would …" Owen grinned, "That would be cool."

"No problem Owen" Ianto smiled, moving off to swing from a climbing frame in the corner.

"Do you see this?" Owen was like a little boy showing his father something and Jack felt a swell of affection as he crooned.

"Bloody brilliant" Owen muttered as he attached the sheath to his belt and walked off, a jaunty step like his balls were too big.

"You made his day" Jack laughed as he walked over to steal a kiss from the upside-down Highlander.

"I do like him, he's just rough around the edges" Ianto smiled, "We all are in different in many ways."

"Not you" Jack whispered as he stole another kiss, reminded of the scene in Spiderman.

"No?"

"No! You my love are perfect."


	21. Chapter 21

21

"The Great Molasses Flood of January 15, 1919" Ianto said as he eyeballed the corpse.

"The what of when?" Owen asked as he turned to face the man on the steps.

"I was in America, Cambridge. In a previous life, like." Ianto stepped primly to one side as Jack brushed past and then continued, "Called Boston these days."

"You were in America?" Jack asked as he picked at the dead man's clothes warily.

"Connor was over there procuring" Ianto answered, "I was between lives here and wanted a break. As you may recall sir, I like the water and the boat voyage with quite nice."

"Yeah? What was her name?" Jack teased as the man's jackrt flopped back and they all groaned at the stench from the slime.

"Gina" Ianto said with a grin.

"Ah!" Owen nodded, "So. What was this molasses thing?"

"It had been cold weather but it was an unusually warm day for a January. Back then, they used it as a key component in the manufacturing of munitions." Ianto said as Owen nodded.

"I forgot that" Jack grinned across at Ianto with open affection and Ianto smiled and stepped back as the jacket pocket suddenly released it's slimy contents on the floor.

"Ew" Owen said as the car keys landed in the pool of blue gunk.

"Rum, and ethanol" Jack said as he frowned, "Produced that too."

"Exactly, therein lies the rub" Ianto said dryly and Jack grinned at Owen.

"Go on. Tell me!" Owen demanded stepping into the gunk as he leaned closer to Ianto, "Tell me about this flood."

"It was lunchtime because Connor and I were walking in Keany Square when there was a deep rumble. We knew about munitions and both looked about, thinking there had been a bomb somewhere and then a tremendous crashing, a deep growling, or a thunderclap-like _bang!_ , and as the gun shots -like a rat-tat-tat sound." Ianto was animated and Owen transfixed as Jack watched the childlike intensity between the two men, "A wave of molasses 25 feet high at its peak, moving at 35 miles per hour!"

Owen's eyes widened at the visual image.

"The molasses wave was of sufficient force to damage the girders of the adjacent Boston Elevated Railway's Atlantic Avenue structure and tip a railroad car momentarily off the tracks. Buildings were swept off their foundations and crushed. Several blocks were flooded to a depth of 2 to 3 feet" Ianto huffed, "Connor and I barely had time to grab for each other before we went down, and under."

"You drowned?" Owen asked softly, his fingers plucking at Ianto's jacket as he stepped closer still and Jack watched that look of affection Ianto sometimes got as he nodded.

"Molasses, waist deep, covered the street and swirled and bubbled about the wreckage ... Here and there a form struggled— whether it was animal or human being was impossible to tell. Only an upheaval, a thrashing about in the sticky mass, showed where any life was ... Horses died like so many flies on sticky fly-paper. The more they struggled, the deeper in the mess they were ensnared. Human beings — men and women , even children — suffered likewise."

"We were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet." Ianto said, "Debris hurled about from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into the harbor. Approximately 150 were injured; 21 people and several horses were killed—some were crushed and drowned by the molasses. Like me and Connor."

"You woke up though, like this?" Owen asked as he pointed at the body.

"We were swept into the harbor and luckily washed under the pilings.

We woke in the water and Connor had woken first, grabbing me and keeping us together until I revived. Our laughter must have been quite eerie as it echoed under there." Ianto huffed softly, "The wounded included people, horses, and dogs; coughing fits became one of the most common ailments after the initial blast."

"Coughing fits" Owen said softly, "The air must have been sticky sweet as well."

"Yes, breathing it in, it was so thick. People survived but then had breathing problems later" Ianto agreed, "You could probably find some stuff on Wiki about it. It was quite famous."

"So … we dump him in molasses?" Owen frowned and Ianto laughed softly.

"No, but we could try beer?" Ianto shrugged, "Maybe a beer truck overturned and a nice spillage of beer, him in the middle of the puddle? Might explain why he's wet, smells sweet and it a bit sticky. We just clean him up a bit and do a dump. The lungs closed so he didn't breathe in the gunk, that happens in drownings sometimes, right?"

"Death by beer" Owen muttered that would be a good one.

"I've not drowned in beer, I have drank meself to death a few times" Ianto said softly as he stepped away and Jack grimaced as his own despairs flittered through his mind.

"So, a beer truck." Jack clapped his hands, "Has to be Brains. Right?"

They all laughed as Ianto stepped into Jack's personal space and canted his head, reaching out to pat his chest.

Then he said those two little words that made Jack's heart sing every time.

"Yes Cariad."


	22. Chapter 22

22

Ianto wandered down to the private quarters, leaving Owen in full combat mode on his game console.

It had only been a couple of days since moving in, both so tired they had fallen into the bed and slept like the dead, touching but there hadn't been any sex.

Jack had already turned in, saying there were takeaways in their little oven when he was ready.

Ianto had loved the small kitchenette Jack had created for him, especially the coffee machine that had pride of place.

He stepped into the room, excepting the table-come-desk to have stuff piled to one side and a parcel of fish and chips in the little oven.

He did not expect the fine china, centerpiece of dark red roses and a single tall white candle, or the champagne flutes.

Crisp tablecloth and napkins waited, even some crystals scattered on the fabric and rose petals around the plates.

Wow.

"Hey" Jack grinned, turning with plates, placing them down as Ianto looked at the steaks and felt his stomach wake with enthusiasm.

Jack's braces were flapping around his hips as he grinned at Ianto, his shirt unbuttoned at the throat and his sleeves rolled up, looking like a photo shoot had just been completed.

He had been feverishly working to make things nice.

Ianto sat and watched Jack pour the champagne. Then he sat as well, grinning as he looked at Ianto expectantly.

Ianto realized with a start that he was being wooed.

Oh.

Oh.

How ….

Oh.

Ianto's blush started as he ducked his head, overcome with pleasure as he nervously picked up the cutlery.

Jack grinned as he watched the blush grow, telling him he was doing good.

"I didn't do a starter because I know you're hungry and these steaks demand attention" Jack said grandly, "Just like me!"

Ianto snorted and cut a bite sized chunk, popping it into his mouth and groaning as it exploded in his mouth.

Garlic.

"Oh Cariad" Ianto groaned and Jack shifted in his chair.

"I know we've been down here for a couple of days but with all the madness we've not had a chance to connect, to enjoy our new digs and as we have the night off and I also took the liberty of having us penciled off tomorrow, that maybe we could have a nice evening to relax, talk, not talk, connect."

Ianto was chewing thoughtfully as he looked at Jack and then he smiled softly, "Well, there were those massage oils in my top drawer that never got a workout."

Jack's face lit up as he watched Ianto ever so gently flirt, his blush beginning again as he fingered the stem of the flute.

Those delicate fingers.

"I spent some time in the orient, as part of a Torchwood assignment" Jack offered, "I can do massage … apparently quite well."

"Really?" Ianto canted an eyebrow, "Because I learned the art as well, spent some time in a Geisha House."

Now Jack was still, staring at his partner as Ianto gave him a whole new image to consider.

"Ianto. Did you …."

"Yes. I was a Geisha Girl" Ianto sighed, "Connor was appalled and amused at the same time. Duncan hit on me. That was weird."

Jack laughed softly as Ianto finished the meal in silence, letting Jack talk about his assignment and showing genuine interest in his story.

They moved to the sofa and Jack held his arms out, engulfing Ianto in a warm hug, kissing languidly and humming happily.

They didn't talk; just enjoyed the warmth of each other's arms as they laid there, eyes closed listening to soft music.

Then Ianto yawned and Jack awed as he leaned in, kissing him and patting his hip before rising and heading for the bathroom next door.

Gotta get that connecting door cut.

Ianto cleared the dishes away and turned to find the screen folded back to reveal their bed, folded down and ready for bed.

Jack was flicking towels over the sheets and the massage oils were lined up.

Ianto saw that it was his side of the bed being covered and felt a spike of delight as he realized he was going to be the one getting a massage and he let Jack undress him and gently lead him to the bed.

Ianto laid and waited for the sexual innuendoes, the slow come on and he was both surprised and pleased when a gods honest massage ensured, complete with background music and Jack singing along softly.

Ianto woke as Jack was rolling him into his arms and blinked at him blearily.

"It's OK darling, go back to sleep" Jack whispered, "Plenty of time for other games. We have the rest of our lives to have a bit of slap and tickle, tonight wasn't about sex. I wanted you to see how happy I am that you stayed with me. For me."

Ianto sighed and nuzzled into Jack's neck as their naked bodies slid together and drifted off to sleep with Jack's hands rubbing his back, the last of the massage oil making the motion warm and soothing.

No lover had done this before.

Adored him.

It was…

Everything.


	23. Chapter 23

23

Ianto stood in the light frosting of snow, looking at it as it swirled around his feet.

It took him back there, like the blink of an eye moves a stalking cat closer, he saw the flakes transform to ash.

Ash.

He could smell the sweet stench of burning flesh and he looked up almost expecting to see the building looming before him aflame, licking around the window frames and devouring those inside whose screams still haunt his dreams.

He shivered as he pulled his Burberry tightly around his neck, clutching it around his throat as he bemoaned the loss of his scarf.

It had been a normal day, nothing special and then he had begun filling out a report and his pen had stopped as the date was half written, Ianto staring at it like a curse word.

A curse.

The scarf was still on the coat rack, where the Burberry had hung next to the Great Coat and he huffed against the cold as he looked up at the sky, the clouds, the spot where everything had been sucked up, like shit going down the drain in a bathtub.

"Ianto?" Jack said softly and Ianto spun to see Jack standing there, appropriately attired with Ianto's scarf in one hand, a carry tray of coffees in the other.

"Cariad" Ianto smiled, stepping into his arms and taking the cardboard tray as Jack slid the scarf around his neck and kissed him lovingly behind his cold ear.

"It's … I forgot and then…" Ianto turned back to stare at the empty space where the Tower had stood. "The date was just screaming at me."

"It's easy to forget. To put into that "don't look" box and glance in that general direction now and then" Jack soothed, "we don't like to look at the failures of our past."

"I've walked across many battlefields, stepped over the dead countless times but …" Ianto balked.

"It's different when it's innocents" Jack agreed.

"I can smell it" Ianto whispered, "I still hear them screaming, like psychic echoes."

"Sometimes I see long gone teammates in the hub, walking around, a moment, a memory" Jack sighed, "Like you stepped back in time."

"Yeah, a fold in the fabric" Ianto shivered and Jack stepped closer, drawing him into a hug.

"When you lit out I looked up and thought … well."

"If I were to ever meet a challenge I would tell you" Ianto said as he looked Jack in the eye, "I would never walk into possible death without you by my side."

"I know I can't interfere but …I want to be there." Jack whispered.

"As I always do with you" Ianto nodded.

"I'm cold" Jack whined, "And this place is creepy."

"Yes" Ianto smiled softly, "I'm hungry."

Jack led him away from Canary Warf and to the SUV, sitting next to his motorbike.

Owen was going over the Harley Davidson with obvious envy and Ianto pulled the keys out of his pocket, flicking them at the Englishman.

"You wanna take her back to Cardiff for me?" he asked, like it was nothing and Owen's eyes almost exploded from his skull as he chortled.

"Ianto and I are going to have a bite to eat and maybe get a room …" Jack said and stopped talking as Owen crowed.

"Benn tellin' ya's to do that for ages!" he spluttered, "I need this on film! The Great Jack Harkness … pardon me Captain Jack Harkness is getting a bloody room!"

"Behave!" Ianto said without any malice and Owen grinned as him as he unlocked the bike's seat to retrieve the helmet.

"I'm gonna ride the hell out'a this" Owen said gleefully as he zipped up his leather jacket.

"Good, I am too" Ianto said calmly and Owen stalled out, staring at Ianto for a moment, then he screamed with laughter as he clung to the handle bars.

"You know you're just encouraging him" Jack scolded, his mirth evident in his eyes.

"Come on babe" Jack pulled Ianto into a hug and they headed for a nearby chippie where Jack knew Ianto would debate the whole ketchup versus vinegar thing.

Ianto slowed and turned his face up to the sun, breathing in clean air.

They left the death behind.

A lot of lives to regret.


	24. Chapter 24

24

They brought Jack in still a corpse and Ianto looked up from his workstation with open horror as he watched the trail of blood from the hand hanging out of the body bag.

"What happened!" he demanded, "He said everything was under control!"

"Bloody hit and run, can ya fucking believe it!" Owen huffed as he staggered and Ianto rose to relieve Gwen of her end of the bag.

They laid him on the gurney and Ianto opened the bag, groaning as he saw the look of surprise on Jack's face, his head twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Didn't see it coming, did he" he said softly as he manipulated the neck and clicked everything back.

Owen grimaced at the popping noises as he answered, "Hit him from behind, he flew like a fucking rag doll."

"Happened to me a few times" Ianto muttered as he took a firm grip on the coat's shoulders and heaved Jack higher on the table.

"Yeah?" Owen looked up with interest, "Cars?"

"A horse drawn carriage, a few cars, a bus, a tram … god, the worst?" Ianto straightened up and looked at Owen, "a stampeding heard of cattle."

"Really?" Owen asked with surprise.

"In a previous life I tried to be a dairy farmer" Ianto confessed, leaning on Jack's chest as they talked and Owen leaned forward as well, their noses almost touching as Ianto spoke softly.

"Up before the birds, moving to the milking sheds and the cows used to bring themselves, eager to be milked and for their udders to be eased," Ianto smiled, "I had me favorites. Bessie, Goober and there was a jersey cow called Skip that farted so bloody much I used to call her Toot."

Owen grinned as he rested his chin in his hands and listened to Ianto's soft laugh.

"There was one called Angie and she always bit me bum, every damned time." Ianto sighed "No matter how careful I was, I even painted her ear tag a different colour so I had fair warning but every bloody morning and again in the afternoon, twice a day, she managed to nip me bum."

Owen grinned with mirth.

"It was a thunder storm" Ianto started talking again as he emptied Jack's pockets, "Blew in off the sea and I was trying to get them into the shed, under cover before it hit when this bolt of lightning lit the sky. A tree was struck and it exploded as the sap turned to molten lava and the wood was blown apart."

Owen's eyes widened at the thought.

They went nuts, bellowing and then they started to run in a circle, like water going down a drain and I was trying to get out of the way, knowing it wasn't likely to end well but I slipped in the mud and shit" Ianto grimaced and Owen knew he was remembering the stench.

Ianto hated smells.

"So here I was, face down in the slops and a hoof descends on my back" Ianto clapped his hands together and two men jumped as Jack squeaked along with Owen, their eyes wide as they listened.

"Hello Cariad" Ianto grinned.

"Did you die then?" Jack asked as he grimaced and sat up, rubbing his neck, "Did you break your back and die?"

"Yes and no" Ianto sighed, "It broke my back, for sure but I was still conscious"

Ianto calmly poured a glass of water for that pour throat and Jack looked at him lovingly as he gulped it down.

"So they like … swarmed?" Owen motioned with wriggling fingers and Ianto looked at him adoringly, a cute little man.

Yes Owen, they … swarmed" Ianto's eyes were dancing, "they trampled me into the mud and I choked in it, the stench and the taste …erg"

"Their shit and mud was churned up, splattering their huge udders and they were slamming those into me as I tried to crawl to safely, trying to drag myself along but my fingers couldn't get traction in the slippery muck." Ianto grimaced as he shuddered.

"Beaten to death by huge tits" Jack smiled as he handed back the glass, "Bad taste in your mouth baby?"

"Gross!" Ianto agreed, "Did you know it's kind of a green colour? Their liquid shit?"

"Erg" Owen blanched, then made a little 'icky' dance as he imagined it.

"Well, we need something tasty to get that memory out of your mouth" Jack crooned.

"Yeah, lunch. Chinese?" Ianto asked, "Think I want beef!"

They laughed as they wandered up and Owen reached out to snag the back of Ianto's jacket, making him stop and turn.

"Did it hurt?"

Ianto stepped back down and gathered Owen into a hug, "Only for a while and I barely remember that."

"But you do" Owen muttered, "You do remember."

"Not every death, some are a surprise but ... most I remember" Ianto smiled as he drew back and ruffled Owen's hair.

"It' OK Owen" Ianto smiled, "Worth every single one as it led me here to my lovely family. You are such a wonderful brother."

Owen's feet didn't touch a single step as he flew up to the main hub to beg for dessert.

Walking on air.

Ianto ordered chocolate mousse and tried not to notice a little happy dance behind him.

Little brothers are naturally annoying.

Like cows.


	25. Chapter 25

25

"Well, that is going to be a bitch to get him out" Ianto sighed as he inspected the large belly of the creature, the man sized lump bore a striking resemblance to Jack.

"Tell me something I don't know" Owen huffed angrily, as he applied a tourniquet to Tosh's arm.

"A blue whale's fart bubbles are large enough to encase a horse" Ianto said distractedly as he angled his sword and started to cut.

Ianto swore softly as the innards spilled out onto the dock, dead fish, body parts from someone that were clearly almost digested and a pristine Captain Jack. Well, pristine apart from the glop and grimace of death.

Owen froze, his hands on Tosh and his eyes locked with hers, then he slowly turned his head to stare at the Highlander who was calmly wiping globs of …. Erg ….

"What?"

"Well? Is that something you knew, or not" Ianto was still looking at Jack, frowning as he noticed the Webley missing and with a soft curse and wrinkled nose he reached back into the opening.

"Big enough for a horse it fit in?" Owen huffed, "How the fuck do you measure something like that!"

"I would imagine … without a naked flame?" Ianto dry-panned and Owen started to snigger.

"Maybe that's how ancient mariners hunted" Owen giggled, "Torches on the boat that blew the fish out of the water."

"Just drift about looking for a water spout, "There she blows" they yell and then BOOM" Owen giggled.

Ianto snorted softly and smiled as he poured a bottle of water over Jack's face and hair, knowing his horror at waking up gooey would be lessened with clean hair.

He crouched to check Tosh and patted her shoulder as he watched Owen stitch the wound before releasing the tourniquet.

"In a previous life, I was eaten by a shark once" Ianto finally offered and Owen perked up.

"I was swimming out off a reef, just on dusk but there hadn't been any reports of sharks and it was the wrong time of year" Ianto shrugged as he levered Jack into a sitting position, leaning against the beast's corpse so he could dry his hair.

Tosh was holding the bandage as Owen tore a strip of tape and they both looked expectably at Ianto who rolled his eyes and sat on the beast's hip to talk.

"So, like I said, just on dusk and the music from the party was drifting back, picture the opening scenes from Jaws, yeah?" he grinned, "And yes, I had just had some lovely sloppy sex with a drunken woman who was sleeping in the back of the VW van I was knocking about in that year."

Owen snorted and wriggled into a more comfortable position next to Tosh, the coms crackling as Gwen turned them up back at the hub.

"So the first touch was like a feather against the skin and I thought it might be seaweed or something" Ianto's voice was dropping to become ominous, "Then another stroke against my thigh, then a soft bump against my hip."

"Hip" Owen said randomly.

"Then it started to burn, my hip" Ianto clarified, "I looked down thinking a bloody sucker fish or something had come along, fearing a jellyfish sting at the most."

Owen grinned, "But it wasn't!"

"No, it wasn't. I had lost a chunk the size of my fist" Ianto said with wide eyes and Owen's mouth fell open, "Blood was pouring out and I was struck dumb. Like, what the fuck, ya know?"

"Then I saw the fin, cutting through the water" Ianto's hand shot up and Owen jumped, his hand closing over Tosh's.

"It was black against the night sky, the water folding back effortlessly as it circled back and came right for me. I was treading water still trying to tell myself it was real, when its nose appeared, followed by its open mouth."

Ianto stopped talking and looked over their heads, then focused again, "So I was bleeding out and knew I might not make it to shore so I tried to hug its snout so each time it struck it was forcing me to shore. I knew it was killing me but the fear of it eating me, possibly tearing me apart so I lost my head, spurred me on."

"But it did eat some of you" Owen sighed, his face contorting with concern.

"I lost most of my left hand, my right leg from the knee down and it took me most of the night to regenerate" Ianto agreed. "My arms were burger meat."

"Regenerate" Owen repeated.

"Not like Jack but … well … maybe something similar" Ianto frowned as he tried to find a way to explain, "it grew back but I was awake, aware and I can tell you, it hurts like lemon juice in a cut but … bigger."

Owen leaned back and saw Jack blinking, "You don't do the big explosive gasping anymore."

Jack focused on him and frowned, then looked up at Ianto.

"I'm not scared anymore" he said simply, "I'm not afraid of waking up alone in a strange place. I know … I know Ianto will be there and as long as I hear his voice calling me back I know you are all OK and there is nothing to fear."

"Hard to think there is anything an immortal is afraid of" Owen said with surprise.

"Of losing" Ianto answered for Jack, "Not our own selves, but everyone else. The greatest fear is to be alone."

Jack nodded silently as he leaned against Ianto's leg and a hand started to stroke his damp hair.

Jack had to agree that losing someone else was his greatest and only fear now.

But as long as he came back to his deep voice …

He knew not all would be lost.


	26. Chapter 26

26

"A nail gun" Ianto eventually said, "He got a job as a building site laborer and was shot by accident by a hydraulic nail gun."

"Would that really happen?" Gwen asked as she shook out the body bag and Owen danced back. The body had been hit with several arrows that had come through the rift, along with the man who had screamed horribly as he died. "Could you make that play?"

At least it was quick.

He arrived and left all at once.

"Dangerous things, building sites" Jack agreed, then waited with a sliver of hope.

"Was in the seventies" Ianto began his story and Owen did a silent punch of glee as there hadn't been a story all week.

"Wow, what were those days like?" Gwen asked.

"The end of the sexual revolution, still hippies, drugs and a lot of sex. Just a bit more subdued" he shrugged, "Gods, but those mushrooms."

Ianto laughed and Jack joined in, remembering the psychedelic highs.

"Anyway, I got a job on this building site. Needed somewhere to settle for a while so I agreed to this high rise apartment building under development. Skypoint it was called, never liked the place, shoulda known." Ianto shrugged, "Safety was not an issue back then, everyone just did what they could."

"It was a card game, nothing more" he warned Jack, "I wasn't dipping my wick then!"

Jack snorted and slid his hands into his pockets.

"So I was accused of cheating and as I have never believed in that … well apart from card counting but I mean … everyone counts the cards, right?" Ianto asked and was surprised by the gapes in response.

"What! Really?" he huffed softly.

"So … tell me" Owen was jigging on the spot and Ianto wondered for a moment if he needed the bathroom, then remembered that he had started a story. "Ah. The nail gun!"

"Yes, yes, hurry!" Owen whined and Ianto smiled softly.

"OK, so as I say, they got the pip with me for winning and one big guy, Norwegian I think, challenged me, swinging for me and as I ducked the others started to egg us both on." Ianto ducked as if he was back there and Owen squeaked, "Then I popped back up and swung back, trying to jump back as he tried to kick me in me sack."

"Bastard!" Owen growled with glee.

"Yeah, so here I was thinking I had this prick pretty well sorted when I hear this fully whomping noise."

"Ah ….." Owen's mouth was open again, his eyes wide as Ianto tapped a finger to his temple.

"Shot me, dead bang!"

"Who!" Gwen demanded.

"The Norwegian bastard's little brother, prick was as big as a brick shithouse too but the coward shot me with a nail gun." Ianto sneered, "I sort of yelped and then …."

Ianto clapped his hands together making everyone jump, then he did it again.

"Three nails to me brain!"

"Fucking hell!" Owen breathed.

"It was weird, I came back in the tray of a Ute, they were taking me to bury see and it was so dark that I thought I was blind at first then I saw stars and realized it was out in the country somewhere" Ianto sighed, "the worst part was the lack of sound as my hearing was effected, my sense of smell too and that was so … weird."

"Weird" Owen did the little repeating thing he does when excited.

"I got a hammer from the tool box and managed to pull them out, blacking out again and when I woke again I could hear like … underwater. All muffled and strange."

"What did you do?" Owen shuffled close.

"The brothers were digging my grave and one was standing in it as the other stood at the side talking down at him so I picked up a shovel and swung, the man's head cracking like a watermelon. He fell down at his brother's feet and he was still standing there when I slapped the shovel done on his head too." Ianto said calmly, "I made sure they were dead, my fear of being buried alive in the front of my mind, then I covered them over and left."

"You killed them" Gwen said with surprise.

"I'm not a saint, Gwen" Ianto said as he faced her, "I did what I had to, to survive. Besides, they killed me first!"

"I'm … I'm not judging you" Gwen said as she shook her head, "I just … that must be hard to always have that in the back of your mind. The knowledge that your life might end at any given time. Does it make life fickle?"

"Gwen" Ianto sighed, raising a hand to stop Jack's retort, "I know you didn't mean it the way it came out. No, my sister, life is not fickle to me. Not mine or anyone else's. I killed them as they knew my secret, they had watched me die and come back. Also, they had shot me in the head, dangerous to have my head damaged. I was angry and not quite myself yet. I do not enjoy killing but I do it. My kind, your kind. In the end there can be only one."

Jack was angry, apparent in his tightly pursed lips as he glared at Gwen.

"It's OK Cariad" Ianto soothed, "Gwen does not accuse me personally, she does not understand our fears. She is mortal and death stalks her more closely, she chooses not to see it, as you ignore the wolf about to bite you in the hopes that it will lose interest."

"I'm sorry" Gwen said as she plucked at Ianto's sleeve, "I didn't mean it as an accusation. I mean … to know that you are hunted, must hunt. That is what I mean. Does it get easier with time?"

"No Gwen" Ianto smiled as he drew her into a hug, "The day it does not matter is the day I die, for I will cease to be human. For the day killing is easy is the day I become a monster and I deserve to lose my head"

"Have some?" Owen asked, "Have some lost their minds?"

"Yes" Ianto turned to Owen and grasped his hands, "If I am ever challenged in broad daylight, it will be by one who has forgotten themselves and the rules of engagement. If this happens promise me you will run. Don't look back and don't call my name. It will kill you to harm me, weaken me and then I will die."

"Me?"

"Owen, I love you. You are family and as such you make me vulnerable." Ianto said as he looked over the team.

"But I would not change it, I would die for you, all of you" he said with confidence, "You are what keeps me human."

"Agreed" Jack said softly, "They keep me alive too."

They did not speak again as they found a building site and Tosh did the necessary paperwork.

It was cold comfort to Owen, knowing he might well be a nail in Ianto's coffin.

The team that kept him alive might also be the death of him one day.


	27. Chapter 27

27

Ianto felt the slight tingling of another immortal approaching and he start to scan the crowd.

Late afternoon on the Plass and the place was teaming as businesses let out for the day.

There it was again.

That tingle.

Owen was about five yards ahead arguing with Jack so Ianto simply slowed his own striding until there was enough space for them not to get pulled in if this was what he thought it was.

Jack turned on his heel and started to walk backward as he asked for an early Tea. His face changed as Ianto stopped walking and looked long and hard at him.

Jack stopped waling and they seemed to have a silent conversation as Jack slowly nodded and started to walk again, catching Owen and throwing an arm around his shoulders.

They were almost to the stone slab before Owen missed Ianto behind them and swung to see him standing back on the Plass, looking slowly around.

"No" he whispered, Jack's arm now tightening as he shoved him onto the perception filter.

"Quiet, he might let us stay" Jack hissed and Owen stopped struggling, his breath shallow and rapid as his fear levels rose.

Then they watched Ianto zero in on a figure that slowly approached.

Then they reached out and touched, Jack and Owen both jumping as they watched the two men's hands slap into elbows in an old world shake.

"They know each other" Jack whispered, "That is how we once greeted. Once how you shook hands."

Then Ianto laughed and embraced the man as Jack relaxed.

Jack let go of Owen and shot off the stone, heading for them and the man Ianto was talking to slowly turned to look at what had taken Ianto's eye.

"Well. This is a nice piece of eye candy" he said in a soft Welsh lit.

"Methos!" Ianto scolded, "That is my Cariad!"

"Methos!" Jack gasped, "Really? The way Connor always spoke of you I expected you to be much … well. Scarier. Like death."

Methos blinked, then threw his head back as he laughed.

"Methos is an old friend" Ianto said, leaning in the 'old' part.

Jack grinned as he shoved his hands in his pockets and it suddenly occurred to Ianto that he was nervous.

Ianto canted his head as he saw something he never thought he would witness.

Jack Harkness was jealous.

Then Ianto saw Owen hovering and he walked over to reassure him.

"A friend, family. I'm safe, go down to Tosh and Gwen" he said softly, "Thank you for watching my back little brother."

Owen huffed and withdrew, watching Jack seize Ianto's hand in an open display of ownership.

Luckily Ianto found it amusing and after agreeing to meet Methos for lunch the next day, he let Jack lead him down to the Hub where everyone was waiting to talk to him.

He did the coffees and cleaning up as everyone settled back down.

Then Ianto did what he knew he must do, going to his quarters where Jack was sitting on the sofa reading a report.

"You don't usually do your paperwork down here during the day" Ianto said as he sat next to him.

"You don't usually meet others in broad daylight like that" Jack muttered.

"Cariad." Ianto said softly, There would not have been a battle. It is forbidden to fight in public. Even if it had been a challenge, we would have agreed a time and place."

"It's OK" Jack shrugged.

"Oh Jack" Ianto sighed, "You got a scare. I'm sorry. I will always let you know, I swear."

"I don't' want to lose you" Jack whispered as he pretended to read the same piece of paper again.

"I don't want to lose either" Ianto huffed, then reached out to close the file.

"Jack, I'm hungry" Ianto whispered.

"Not teatime yet?" Jack looked at his watch, then sniggered as a hand slid over his thigh.

"Not that kind of hungry" Ianto whispered. "Help me feel alive Cariad."

As they made love, Jack waited for Ianto, falling with him as they usually did, their fingers kneading and grabbing as both men cried out their joy.

As Ianto settled in his lover's arms Jack stroked his shoulders and worried about it still.

If Methos found him might someone else?

They needed better security around the Plass


	28. Chapter 28

28

Ianto was getting ready for lunch with Methos, both pleased and surprised by Jack's begging off and he made a mental note to check the CCTV footage later to see if he was spying on them.

Strangely, the thought was comforting.

There was noise in the doorway and Ianto turned, expecting it to be Jack with a leer on his face, instead finding Owen.

He had something in his hand.

A book?

"Hey" Owen shifted his feet, "Are you busy?"

Ianto resisted the urge to check the clock and shook his head, moving to the sofa and indicating for Owen to sit with him.

Owen shot over and placed the book on his lap and Ianto saw it was in fact a photo album.

He waited feeling that this was somehow important to Owen and after it became obvious that Owen was not going to talk he rose and offered coffee as he quickly texted Methos a rain check.

He asked for the next day, same time as he was unable to attend due to a small emergency.

The return text was an infuriating "K" that he knew Ianto hated.

Ianto sat with two mugs and waited.

Finally, hesitantly Owen slid the album to Ianto's' lap.

"This is my previous life" Owen whispered, "Well. The best one."

Ianto blinked with surprise as he gently flipped it over, treating it as spun gold for the care it seemed to demand.

He opened it to find a picture of a beautiful young woman.

"Katie" Owen whispered, "That's Katie Russell. My fiancé."

Ianto felt the air in the room still as he stared at Owen's lost love.

"She was a doctor too, clever and talented. Pediatric. She loved kids and wanted a gazillion" Owen was gushing, now that he had started to talk it started to flow like a torrent.

"We met in med school and she called me a Twat on the first day. God I knew that I wanted to marry her!" Owen smiled softly to himself, "Top of her class. The cow."

Ianto remained quiet as he studied the photos and then saw the small decline in the woman.

"We thought it was Alzheimer's, like early onset but to be sure we did a full scan." Owen snorted and rubbed his face, "A fucking brain tumor. Right? So I was like … cut the bloody thing out then!"

"Next thing I know there's this bloody yank in a WWII coat shouting the odds and screaming that the procedure be stopped." Owen rubbed his hands on his trouser legs, "He said it was something that would kill everyone in the ER. I told him he was a bloody nutta and too late anyway coz the procedure was underway."

We went in and … they were all dead. Lying where they fell. It was fucking eerie" Owen shuddered at the memory, "Katie. There with the scull cut open, and … shit."

Ianto blanched and looked at Owen with shame.

"An alien sucking her brain and it's natural defense mechanism was to release a deadly toxic when threatened" Owen sighed, "I might have had more time if I hadn't been so sure that the procedure was the right way to go. I should have argued about it. To see here there with the top of her head cut off."

"Lisa, you did the autopsy. You had to see …"

"Yeah. Talk about flashbacks" Owen whispered as he looked down at the album.

"Tell me about her" Ianto demanded and Owen lit up.

"She liked chocolate ice-cream and rainy days by the fire. Her favorite colour was green. She wanted to get married on the beach and I had promised her a honeymoon in a Swiss chalet where all we could do was get snowed in and shag."

Ianto laughed and Owen leaned against him, "She smelt like oranges and jasmine. Even in the operating theatre which was both a come-on and a distraction. I used to accuse her of doing it deliberately."

"She had expressive eyes" Ianto whispered and Owen grinned.

"Cheeky" he said softly, "She could give those one line belters, ya know? Sort of like you with the dry humor and not everyone got her. Ya know? She was afraid of failure and worked herself so hard sometimes" Owen sighed, "I used to tell her she was working to an early grave."

"She knew the love of a good man" Ianto nodded thoughtfully, "Not a bad thing to have."

"I love Tosh. I think ... I think I wanna get her a ring but …"

"Not hers?" Ianto guessed, "You don't want Katie's on her finger?"

Owen nodded silently.

"I would not like to see Jack in some of my ex's jewelry either" he dryly growled and Owen snorted as his eyes danced, "I do have an ex's dress though. A pretty little red sequined number and I have wondered about that."

Owen was laughing now as he slid into Ianto's arms and the album was placed gently on the table.

"Thank you Owen" Ianto said as he hugged his friend, "It took a lot to share one of the most precious things you have."

"Feels right" Owen said sullenly into Ianto's chest, "I want you to know her. It's silly but I feel like I need you to know who I have loved."

"It is important" Ianto crooned, glad he had decided to sit instead of dine.

"You are important to me Owen."


	29. Chapter 29

29

The water was lapping against the side of the boat as Ianto snoozed in the seat, his head lolling as seagulls cried overhead.

"He's been down a while" Owen was craning his head as Gwen turned the boat in a slow circle.

"Probably mating with a dolphin or something" Tosh giggled and they all laughed softly.

Owen was watching Ianto and he reached across to touch the back of his hand, "Hey."

Ianto grunted and raised his head to smile at him.

"You like the water, don't you" Owen smiled back.

"I was born by the water, me Da was a fisherman when not doing battle" Ianto snorted softly, "The smell of water always soothes."

"Did you go out with him as a wee kid?" Owen asked and Ianto was reminded that Owen didn't have a father.

"Yeah, we would go help feed out the net and pull it back in, man the oars and generally act the goat until our Da threatened to knock our heads off" he laughed softly, "Three boys and two girls. Us boys loved going with Da, especially checking the cray basket. The girls were afraid of the crayfish and we would roar and chase them around the house as Mam tried to clip our ears."

"You know, I can imagine you as a cheeky child" Gwen laughed gently as she pointed to an ascending shadow. "And him."

"Don't lean over" Ianto warned but Owen frowned at him and did anyway, only to squeal as Jack exploded from the water with a yodel that send Owen back onto the deck.

"What's wrong Owen?" Jack laughed as he climbed the ladder.

"Gonna need a bigger boat" Owen huffed with good humor and Ianto laughed happily.

"Well, it's been flooded and is now settled into the silt" Jack sighed as he sat next to Ianto and let a wet hand drop onto Ianto's lap. Ianto vacantly picked it up and rubbed it between his warm ones.

"Picnic?" Jack begged and Ianto smiled as Tosh carried out the basket and then went back for the food she had already laid on plates.

"Yum" Jack hummed happily as he picked up a sandwich and Ianto looked at him with open love.

"Turkey and cranberry jelly" he said softly to his love, "Your favorite Cariad."

"Wonderful" Jack mumbled around another mouthful and Ianto accepted a glass of orange juice from Tosh.

"Do you think it was wise to leave those two loose in the hub?" Owen asked as he accepted his own glass, letting his fingers brush Tosh's and leaving them both blushing.

Ianto pretended not to see, "Well, I'm sure Myfanwy is keeping a mean eye on them."

Owen snorted and accepted a plate from Tosh with a soft smile, her own smile open and pleased.

"You two have the night off don't you?" Jack suddenly pointed out.

"Yeah, we're going to the movies to see the new Star Wars movie" Owen said with glee and Ianto watched the small child in Owen appear.

"Who's you favorite character?" Ianto asked

"Luke for me, then Chewy" Owen answered.

"Has to be Han Solo for me." Ianto nodded.

"Really?" Jack asked as he picked up a pastry.

"Seriously Cariad" Ianto snorted, "I always love a bad boy."

Then he leaned in close and whispered, "You should know."

Jack choked on the food and then slapped at Ianto with obvious pleasure.

"I go for the captain, every time" Ianto sighed wistfully and they all laughed some more.

"Storm brewing" Ianto finally sighed, "If those Gerfilts are happy where you placed their little ship and are settled into their new home perhaps we should go Cariad"

The small spaceship was the size of an orange and held over 200 wee souls that only required deep water and space.

Jack had placed them in a habitat that was sure to be pleasing, the mesh cage over them was the size of a small car and ensured no fish would eat them while they had a large space to explore.

Jack had loved Ianto's attention to detail, the small toys and things nestled amongst natural choral that would make excellent places to explore and perhaps settle as wee homes had been well researched by his lovely Highlander and Jack was again reminded of the gentle heart inside the suited armour.

Jack seemed to be excited about something, hiding it well but Ianto felt the tickle of it and he tried to work out what it might be.

"So. You chased your sisters about the house did you, ya little beasts" Jack said.

"Yep, they sure could squeal."

"Were you the oldest?" Owen asked as Jack moved to stow his dive gear that had been left in favor of the food.

"No the middle child" Ianto smiled.

"The forgotten one" Owen said softly and Ianto snorted.

"So, you think the girls squealed" Jack said as he approached, his hands behind his back and Ianto's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

"Owen" Jack said with glee, "Look!"

He thrust the crayfish at Owen's face and Owen screamed as he flew back, his arms wind milling as he struggled from his seat and away from the crustacean.

"Like that?" Jack canted his head and wriggled the crayfish at the man in the corner of the deck, gaining another scream.

Blood curdling.

"Yes" Ianto smiled as he smiled lovingly up at his Captain. "All little girls sound like that."

"OI!"


	30. Chapter 30

30

Ianto was being a bit distant and Jack didn't understand why as for the third time that day he pulled his hand back when Jack reached for it.

Owen caught the movement and watched Jack's face fall, even as Ianto's took on a look of annoyance.

When Ianto went to the bathroom, Owen followed.

"Are you OK buddy?"

"Just … it's an awkward day today" Ianto said softly as he turned to face Owen, his shoulders shrugging as he spoke.

"Why?"

"This is my Deathday." Ianto snorted.

"Your what?"

"Today is the day of my original death" Ianto shivered and stared at a point over Owen's shoulder, then grimaced and moved away.

"You gonna tell me about it?" Owen asked and Jack looked up.

"I don't talk about that one" Ianto said flatly, "The death itself was … well … the aftermath. It … I don't discuss it."

Jack guessed what the conversation was and chipped in, "I thought you were going to explain that comment the other day about the helicopter!"

"What?"

"The other day when we were looking over at the choppers working over the pier you commented on them as wee death traps" Jack said, easily redirecting Owen's attention and the look of appreciation from Ianto was not lost as Jack smiled happily.

As Ianto explained his time as a Rescue Helicopter Pilot Jack settled back in his seat to watch the way the team automatically stopped to listen. Although still quiet, Ianto was interacting more and it was lovely to see the mutual affection.

"I was flying one that was the victim of bird-strike" Ianto settled into the story as Owen looked excitedly between the two men, even clasping his hands in a childlike glee that had Ianto stepping closer to him.

"And then there was this terrible sound, a shrieking and the chopper shuddered, titling to starboard at an incredible speed" Ianto was saying, reaching out to lightly touch Owen as he leaned subconsciously along with him.

Jack looked at the two men and found his affection growing as he watched the fatherly love shown to the little man.

"A seagull had been sucked into the exhaust system and the tail rotor was on fire" Ianto said as Owen made a small noise.

"The ground was coming towards me fast and if it were not for the man in the back, still working the winch and the basket that was still rising with the woman relying on me, I might have let her go down" Ianto said softly, Owen's eyes wide with horror, "I had to save both him and the poor injured hiker in the safety basket."

Jack saw the others silently creep closer to listen, Gwen's hand coming to her mouth.

"First priority was the hiker, so I swung a few times to judge the velocity, then when I was sure, I cut the winch and deployed" Ianto snapped his hand through the air like a ninja chop, all eyes following the motion, "The basket was only a few feet from the edge of the cliff and to my relief I had counted right, watching it fly onto the grass at the cliffs' edge as the emergency crew grabbed it to drag it back."

Gwen was reaching for a chair without looking and Jack silently pushed it into her grabbing hand's space and she sat, never taking her eyes off the storyteller.

"Then, I knew my crewmate was going to be stuffed so I started a recount, this time telling him to unhook as I was going down hard" Ianto sighed, "He panicked a bit and I had to bank to the side and shake him out into the sandy rise of the beach, of course that left me buggered as the rotor blades touched the water and she went up and over like a rolly-polly, slamming me down as if hitting concrete."

Ianto showed the rolling motion with his hands and all eyes followed him, including Jack who was now hooked too.

"I could see her folding up around me and the water rushing in as I struggled to get out of my harness before she hit the bottom and my broken legs were slowing me down." Ianto said as Owen grimaced, "So the easiest thing was a reset. So … I died."

"You chose to?" Gwen whispered.

"I knew by this stage who and what I was. I also knew it would be easier to resurrect from a quick death than to die slowly and then force a resurrection underwater. I hate drowning so I used the sidearm, cursing the headache it would give me later. I closed my eyes and BANG"

"Bang" Owen whispered with glee.

"I woke up floating in the water, where I easily washed away all traces of my demise and then I swam to shore where my partner was hysterically searching for me" Ianto sighed as he leaned back, "He said that would be one to tell the grandchildren."

Jack watched them all lean back and consider.

"Well, next best thing, you get to tell Owen." Jack said with glee trying to lighten the silence.

"He is sort of like a grandchild I suppose" Ianto frowned, "He whines, grates on your nerves and keeps leaving fingerprints on everything."

"Glad to be of service Grandpa" Owen beamed as he saw the mirth in Ianto's gaze.

Gwen was still thinking about it, "What of you had to choose, between your partner or the patient?"

"Patient" Ianto said without hesitation, "My partner knew what he had signed up for, she was a young woman with a broken leg and family watching from the cliff. Whether correct or not, it was the choice I made in that split second."

"I often wonder if I would chose Rhys or our child if there came something big, like a fire or something" she said and Ianto leaned closer to her.

"Take it from me, chose the child" he said softly, "You can mourn a partner, but a child … to lose a child … it does something to you that stays longer. A different kind of grief."

"And on that note I want something to eat" Jack rose to shut down the conversation, Rhiannon in his mind as he watched Ianto internally cringe, "Owen, your turn to choose"

"YAY!" Owen ran for the takeaway folder, letting go of the conversation and Gwen nodded to show she knew the unspoken order to let it go.

Jack stepped in to draw Ianto into a hug.

"I bet you looked hot in a jumpsuit" he whispered and Ianto smiled softly as he watched Owen racing towards them with excitement, a handful of takeaway restaurant pamphlets and already begging for more than one order before he even got to Ianto.

Yes, choose the child every time.


	31. Chapter 31

31

Owen was having a 'non' day, openly sniping and grumbling as he stomped about looking for something to pop with his imaginary needle.

Ianto had been watching silently for some time and as he watched, a strangle tingle started in the soles of his feet, making him look down and frown with confusion.

Then …

EARTHQUAKE!" he screamed reaching for Tosh and lifting her to run for the meeting room where he dove under the large wooden table and held her tightly as he screamed for the others to move their arses!

Jack had Gwen in his arms and he landed, followed by a startled Owen who lay panting beside them as he looked around.

"Oi! T-boy, what the fuck" Owen finally said as he flopped onto his back and glared at Ianto, who was still clinging to Tosh with fear.

"Ianto?" Jack said softly, then it hit.

It felt like a plane hitting turbulence and everyone yodeled as they got a few inches of air before slamming back into the floor.

Ianto had rolled so he was between Tosh and the floor, taking the impact with a soft grunt of pain as she clung to him and screamed with renewed fear.

"Easy" he panted as he rubbed her back, then started to laugh shakily.

"Fuck!" Owen spat.

Jack was hugging Gwen and let her go to reach for Owen, pulling him in for a hug.

"That was a four pointer for sure" Ianto huffed, finally letting Tosh go with a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Is it over?" Jack asked and Ianto frowned, unsure.

"I vote we stay here for a wee bit" Owen muttered, "Aftershocks and shit."

"I agree" Ianto rose, "I'll just get some water bottles and stuff so we can be comfortable, Cariad you could get the sofa cushions as the floor is hard."

"I want you to stay here!" Jack told the team, "I mean it. Ianto and I will come back."

They knew the double wording he had just used as they nodded and Owen pulled the two women in beside him.

Jack stopped Ianto in the kitchen and drew him into a kiss, soothing with soft hands rubbing and a gentle hum as he let him lean into him for a few minutes.

"Thank you Cariad" Ianto whispered, breathing in him as his heart rate slowed to a more acceptable level.

Soon Ianto and Jack were back, settling for an impromptu picnic that was actually quite good. Tosh checked the chatter on the Unit channel and found there were no serious injuries and only minor damage, it had been a deep shake and they had felt it more as they were below ground.

"1908" Ianto said after the silence was too long, "Messina, Italy."

"Oh, I remember that one!" Jack nodded, "That was a biggie."

"Connor had asked me to go get some artwork he wanted so I had been there as a stop off on the way" Ianto took a swig of water as Owen squeezed the girls to keep them quiet, smelling a story.

"It was before 5.30 in the morning … like 5.20 I think and we woke to a strong shaking. It lasted for 20 or 30 seconds and its effects were devastating" Ianto continued, "I remember the dust, like ash. It made me think of Pompeii."

"December 28, Christmas decorations falling, scattered in the streets along with rubble and bodies" Ianto grimaced, "Some were already heading to work but more were still abed. Killed while they slept by falling chimneys, masonry and such."

"What magnitude?" Gwen asked as she leaned forward to hug her knees.

"7.5"Ianot replied, "but that was not the worst of it."

"No?" Gwen frowned.

"Oh! Oh!" Owens hand shot up as he wriggled on his cushion and Jack resisted the urge to grin.

"Yes Owen" Ianto said calmly.

"I bet there was a …um ... tidal wave! Right?" Owen gushed.

"Yes. Well done" Ianto smiled softly, "Owen gets to chose tomorrow's lunch menu."

"YAY" Owen wriggled some more, then his glee faded as he leaned in again, "Tell me."

"The epicenter of the earthquake was on the strait of Messina,which separates Sicily from Calabria. The earthquake affected Messina, Calabria, and other coastal towns nearby. The region of Calabria was no stranger to earthquakes, in 1783 there was a series of earthquakes in the Calabria region with a magnitude of about 6 or higher." Ianto sighed, "I should have known my luck would draw in a big one."

"A big one" Owen repeated.

"A 12-meter tsunami also hit the nearby coasts causing more destruction including the death of 70,000 residents with 91% of the structures in Messina destroyed." Ianto explained as he accepted some grapes from Jack. "I survived the quake to get washed out to sea while still digging others out."

"Shit" Owen huffed, "So, what did you do?"

"Weeks after the earthquake people were still being rescued from the rubble, however many more remained trapped and perished under flattened homes and buildings." Ianto spoke softly, "I remember a family that I had spoken to in passing on the street, I remember helping dig through the rubble of their home a week later, finding one of the little children still alive. A family of six and we got one back. We held her up, all dirty and traumatized and we cheered. A small victory."

"Shit" Owen huffed as he tried to think about it.

"That …. Those poor people" Gwen whispered.

"There were 293 aftershocks over a period of over 3 months." Ianto told them, "The Messina earthquake and tsunami killed about 80,000 people and caused $116 million dollars in damage. Parts of the coasts were lost to the ocean. It caused great suffering and damage, and its effects were felt for many years. It was said to be one of Europe's deadliest earthquakes. The survivors of the earthquake had a hard time. Many lost members of their family, their homes, and everything they owned. Some survivors were moved to other parts of Italy while others immigrated to America."

"In 1909 a ship carrying 850 survivors from Naples to New York collided with a passenger liner in dense fog, resulting in the death of 3 people. The passengers were rescued and eventually arrived in New York." Jack finished off, "I remember reading in the paper about that. Like, death really dropped the bomb on them."

"Yeah" Ianto smiled, "Sorry if I went a bit nuts back there but the thought of another one is quite … unsettling."

"I don't blame you" Owen said with wide eyes, "I was on a bus that crashed once, I can't ride the bloody things now."

"Was it bad?" Gwen asked him and Ianto blinked as he felt the prick descending.

"Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales . In London , 17 people get on the bus. In Reading , six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on . In Swansea , three people get off and five people get on. In Carmarthen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven." Ianto rattled off calmly, watching Owen's face change as he lost his train of thought, switching to a new game.

"So .. 17 get on" he muttered as he started to scribble on a pad, "six off and then … what?"

"Nine on" Ianto promoted.

"Ah, yeah! Then two off, four on, 11 off .. 11 right?" he looked to Ianto who nodded, "Ha! 16 on, three off and five more on. Fuck."

Ianto waited and Jack frowned as we watched the twinkle in the corner of his eye.

"Right. Got it, now six off and three on!" Owen frowned.

"Got it?" Ianto canted his head as Owen muttered and looked over his scribbling, "OK Owen, here is the question."

"Right! Owen shifted and leaned forward with a look of intensity.

"Owen. What is the driver's name?"

"Huh?"

Ianto smiled as he watched Owen twist, looking at the pad and then at Ianto like he was deranged, "What the fuck do you mean? How do I get a name from that?" 

Ianto grinned "Don't you remember your own name? It was YOU!"

They laughed as Owen threw the pad and swore, then retrieved it to write it all out neatly.

Ianto was touched that he had liked it that much.

Such an easy boy to please.


	32. Chapter 32

32

Owen was in a picky mood, swinging in his chair as he watched Gwen do one of the story board things.

Ianto was watching his face as is screwed up and although he considered it pointless, Gwen found it therapeutic.

"Owen?" Ianto asked as he stopped to place his cup of coffee on a placemat.

"Huh?" Owen swung to look at him, smoothing out his frown as he saw the drink.

"Bored wee man?" Ianto asked.

"It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany. (If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany.) Anyway, during the flight, two engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he can do so and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany. Where would you bury the survivors?"

Owen blinked.

"East Germany, West Germany, or no man's land?" Ianto asked.

Owen steepled his hands and started to think.

Ianto went back to delivering the rest of the cups, heading up to Jack last.

"Hey Connor was just on the phone, something about a gallery opening?" Jack smiled as he accepted his cup with a happy noise.

"He has lent a few pieces from the private collection" Ianto nodded, "They are having an evening opening, wine and cheese and stuff."

Jack was distracted by the long limbs moving as Ianto repositioned himself so his feet were on the desk and Jack lad a fine view of the arse cheeks.

"You look pretty edible right now" he growled, then cleared his throat and Ianto laughed softly.

 _He knew damned well what he was doing the minx._

"Gwen is really getting her teeth into this case" Ianto stretched, "Are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?" Jack asked as he sipped his coffee.

"She's hunting a Goraken" Ianto pointed out, "They are unable to be contained. They always take three and then go back into hibernation."

Jack balked as he realized Ianto had correctly ID'd the creature that had killed two hookers the last two nights in a row.

"One more and it's gone" Ianto sighed, "She cannot do the whole "Lady of the night" thing, sorry, but she will not make a convincing hooker and I don't want her out there anyway.

"No, you're right. I agree" Jack rose and called out to her, calling her up for a talk.

"You want me to leave?" Ianto asked, already rising.

"No, she will ask a lot of questions and you have more patience" Jack huffed as he collapsed back in his chair.

As expected, she did ask a lot of questions. She got upset, angry and yelled a bit as Ianto leaned forward nodding sympathetically, then she stormed off.

"Well, that went well" Ianto said as he settled back and Jack laughed softly.

"She's getting louder" Jack grumbled, "How does she turn up her volume setting like that?"

Ianto threw his head back, laughing as he slapped his leg and Jack smiled as he watched his lover.

"What were you and Owen talking about?" Jack asked and Ianto grunted, rising and walking o to the railing.

"Owen!"

Owen looked up with a frown.

"You got it for me yet?"

"Well, I think the best place would be No Man's Land but I fucking know you!" Owen grumbled. "You are setting me up somehow."

"Owen, I expected more from you" Ianto rolled his eyes as he watched Gwen glower at her wall, "You don't bury survivors."

Owen started to laugh, throwing his pen down as he realized the game.

Ianto gave in, going down to the archives and returning with a file which he handed to Gwen. She sat and read it, growing pale and agitated as she saw that Jack had been telling her the truth.

"How long have they been around?" she asked.

"Millennia. They are not like a vampire or anything, they hibernate for about five years then come out to feed. I tried catching one once, it didn't end well" Jack answered a she approached.

"We're Torchwood and we can't do anything?" she asked angrily.

"There are things walking this earth that we have no control over" Jack sighed, "Like the Mara, some things are beyond us. It's their world."

"So we let it go" she huffed, her pout immense.

"Please Gwen." Ianto said softly, "We fight the battles we can, we run when we have to and if the hole doesn't have a bottom then we don't jump in."

Gwen nodded mutely and stood to move off, handing back the file with a soft word of thanks.

Jack watched and wondered what she might have done if Ianto hadn't been there to back him up.

He knew they had dodged something, knew she might have gone rogue on him and as he watched Ianto slowly rise to watch her dismantle the wall he also knew she was stopping for Ianto, not for him.

As if hearing him, Ianto looked up and winked.

Jack moved away from the glass with a soft snort of humor.

A lot of things on this Earth you don't mess with. 


	33. Chapter 33

33

Ianto walked into the office and placed the coffee cups down as he quietly emptied the tray.

Owen was talking on the phone and Ianto recognized the usual avoidance technique as Jack sat there trying not to make a noise to alert Unit that he was there, "General? This is Doctor Harper, I believe I sent you a detailed file on what not to do so if you chose to ignore …"

Owen looked at the phone and then snorted, placing it back to his ear, "And how prey tell do you know my mother so well? It usually takes people quite a while before they realize she is a bitch. I rarely admit to being her son though."

Jack leaned over and plucked the phone from Owen, placing it to his own ear.

Owen was watching Jack with unreserved glee.

Ianto wondered who it was on the other end and then watched Jack's smile slowly cross his face more like a snake might before it strikes.

"I would tell you to kiss my arse but you might fall in love and I'd never get rid of you" Jack said in a sugary sweet voice, "Sorry General, but I'm taken these days."

Ianto canted his head and raised an eyebrow as they saw some of the best silent grimaces the general would never know about.

"I'll just see if I have that file you say you sent … hold on …" Jack picked up a couple of random files and shook them, slamming them abut and then clearing his throat, "Ah yes, here we are. Under F for Fucktard!"

Jack held the phone away from his ear and rolled his eyes while making a snapping motion with his other hand, then pulled it back to his ear, "Not my circus, not my monkeys. My monkeys fly. If you sent your men in, it was your choice. Your fuck up, you sort it out. I am NEVER taking on a Fervoton after than balls-up!"

More phone swinging as Jack rocked in the chair and waved the phone around.

Ianto sat on the edge of the desk and canted his head as his eyed danced with mirth and it emboldened Jack so he reached out and patted his thigh, "I'm having one of those days where I want to set your fucking face on fire and try putting it out with a fork Fuck you! And sort your own shit out."

"Yeah?" Jack grinned, "Well I will be sure to add that to my report to Lizzie, she will love to hear your opinion of her."

"No."

"This is Captain Harkness you are screaming at, not Dr Harper and the employer you just told me to shove a pineapple up is her majesty" Jack chortled, "I'm gonna teeeeeelllllllll."

Jack hung up and roared with laughter as Ianto sighed softly, "Naughty boy."

"It's not the fact that you are crazy that scares me, it's the fact that you seem to revel in it." Owen gaped at him, "Did you just call Her Majesty Lizzie?"

"Fucking Unit, think they can tell me what to do, I will tell Lizzie he said that too!"

"And what you said to him Cariad?" Ianto giggled.

"She won't care, she knows I have a potty mouth. God, I tought her her first dirty word and she uses it as much as possible." Jack laughed.

"What one is that?" Owen frowned.

"Wee" Jack snorted.

"Smartarse!" Owen laughed softly as he shook his head ay the insinuation that the royal "wee" was a way to speak about urine in public.

"I heard she can be a bit of a dragon" Owen sighed, "Powerful and it always make me think of that saying, 'Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup'."

"I don't know if she's heard that one" Jack grinned "but she likes G K Chesterton's one."

"What one is that?" Owen asked with glee, leaning forward in his seat and Ianto smiled down at him.

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." Ianto intoned, and then grinned widely.

"But the brave men did not kill dragons. They rode them! That is what I believe." He finished.

Fuck, that is a good one" Owen jiggled and Ianto resisted the urge to tousle his hair.

"What is your favorite one Owen?" he prompted and Owen looked even more childlike as he looked up at Ianto with a naughty grin.

"If every day is a gift then today was fucking socks!" he declared loudly and Ianto threw his head back, roaring with laughter as Jack watched with a lick of his lips.

God he was so edible.

"I'm gonna take a hot shower." Ianto said as he rose and started to leave the room, swinging on his heel and leer back at the two men openly watching him, "It's like a normal shower but with Jack."

Jack squeaked and struggled from his chair, forgetting to push out the chair and then he yelped as his hard-on hit the desk.

The faint laughter from the hub floor told them that Ianto had not only heard but knew what had happened.

Jack caught him in the shower block, already naked and stepping under the water and he slammed him against the wall as he bit at his neck, snarling like an animal.

"Ah, Cariad" Ianto sighed softly, reaching up to stroke his hair, "There."

Jack was pushing in without a problem as their bodies joined and Ianto's head fell back to hit the tiles as he struggled to breathe.

Finally they wound down and slid to the floor, Ianto laughing softly as Jack groaned into his neck.

"Nice" Ianto sighed.

"Yeah" Jack snorted, "Talk about a stress reliever."

"Owen really didn't know that you had ended the call after he handed the phone back, did he" Ianto started to giggle again.

"Nah, did you see his wee face when I started saying Fucktard?" Jack rubbed Ianto's shoulders as the hot water drummed down.

"I see that word getting used a lot in the near future" Ianto sighed, "Like a sponge, kids."

Jack laughed as he held his love, agreeing completely.

Owen was definitely the naughty one.


	34. Chapter 34

34

"What are these?" Owen asked, ratting around in one of Ianto's open boxes and Ianto leaned over to check, making a small noise of delight.

"Knee guards" he said.

"For what?" Owen turned them over in his hands, "Scrubbing nail beds?"

"No ya numpty" Ianto laughed, "In a previous life, I was a medieval knight in a reenactments travelling troupe."

"Bullshit!" Owen snorted, "Are you really telling me you have a suit of amour in here?"

Ianto settled back and watched Jack enter with a tray of food, settling to offer Owen a biscuit like he knew the wee one would pout if he didn't get first pick of the chocolate biscuits.

"In a previous life, I was King Arthur in a reenactment Troupe" Ianto began again, watching Jacks' face light up, "I have…ah! A broad sword tht was supposed to be Excalibur but as you can see, it's a piece of shit."

Ianto pulled a sword from a large box and swirled it above his head, making Owen's eyes big.

"How did you die?"

"Christmas" Ianto laughed, "I was pissed as a newt ….hahaha…pardon the pun."

"Newt, I get it" Owen grinned as Ianto sat and offered the sword to Owen for a play.

"So, it was snowing and I was quite drunk, getting between the tents as people sang Christmas carols and stuff" Ianto waved a hand, "I saw a vision. A pretty lady who was dancing in the firelight by one of the bonfires and I wanted to say hello. You know …like…hi"

Ianto leered and Owen giggled at the implication, shifting closer.

"Her hair was to her waist and had flowers in it, a real hippy with bare legs as her skirts flew" Ianto sighed, "She looked so fuckable."

Jack laughed as he watched Owen's eyes widen at Ianto's wanton leer.

"So I was almost there when I tripped and the choral singers reached a crescendo of 'Joy to the World' as I fell, impaling myself on a bloody tent spike." Ianto huffed.

"Shit"

"It was wooden, went straight into my right eye and I can tell you it was a bastard to come back to" Ianto snorted, "My friends were so drunk they thought they had saved me all high fiving and offering me a joint while I felt my eyeball growing back in my socket."

"Ergh, I hate that" Jack shivered sympathetically.

"Shit Christmas then" Owen pointed out.

"Nope" Ianto leaned back, "Got the girl. She saw it happen and had a Florence Nightingale bent along with the magic mushrooms that made her dance so fine."

"Shit!"

"So, what are your plans for Christmas Owen?" Ianto canted his head, "You going to take Tosh on a sleigh ride through the park to see the lights?"

Owen blinked and looked up at him with open surprise.

"Owen. She's a simple kinda girl. She wants a wee bit of romance now and then" Ianto explained, "Flowers, a sleigh ride with you patting the blanket over her, then a nice meal to warm up."

"Yeah?" Owen asked.

"Woo her" Jack said with a knowing nod, "How can you please a mate unless you remind them that they are worth wooing even after winning the spot in their bed?"

"Yeah" Owen scrambled to his feet and raced off to sort it and Jack smiled at Ianto lovingly.

"Nice" he whispered to his Highlander, "To help him out."

"Gods, if I don't there will never be a bloody wedding!" Ianto huffed, yawning as he reached for another chocolate, then looking at the tickets slid onto the tray. "Are these what I think they are?"

"Yep" Jack grinned, "The Christmas Pantomime and reservations for the Crows Nest for afters …dessert guaranteed by Gerbor"

"Jack" Ianto purred, "Are you wooing me?"

"Is it working?"

Ianto blushed.

Score.


	35. Chapter 35

35

He was reading the paper, his shirt collar itching as he asked Millicent not to use so much starch next time and her snort told him that she really didn't give a rat's arse about his collar.

He looked up over the edge of the newspaper to see her grinning over at him before she went back to peeling the potatoes for their evening meal, such a cheeky mare that he was already formulating the spanking he might give her later.

She was special this one. Of all his wives, she had a special spark to her that had drawn him like a moth to a flame. He had told himself to step back, to run away. He knew in his cold, wretched heart that his death would hurt so much this time, the thought of leaving her behind. She was not what you would call a faithfull woman but the baban in her belly was something he knew he wanted, as was the one she had already porvided so you take your medicine and shut up.

A little coo had him now lowering the newspaper as his son sat on the floor surrounded by wooden blocks, the toy of the moment. Some were coloured, some were carved with animals. The dyed ones were pushed to one side as his son showed his delight in ones that had the raised markings on them. Ianto had spent hours upon hours carving them for him. His little star.

Little Henry had been born blind.

That had hurt in a way Ianto could not explain. It had made him more protective, more connected to this little one with his shiny cheeks and impossibly bright blue eyes that betrayed him with their beauty yet incredible uselessness. Ianto watched those pudgy little fingers stroke a carded tiger's face on the side of a block and the little face frowned as he tried to work out what it was.

"Tiger" Ianto said as he discarded the paper to slide to the floor and he reached out to touch his litle boy's head, feel the bright red curls the same as his beautiful mother who was now slicing the potatoes into a large pot so tomorrow's pie would have a potato crown from the leavings "A Tiger Henry. RWARRRRRRR"

The little one laughed gaily, his head falling back to expose his throat and those pesky teeth that had him awake during his usual nap time flashed, tiny pearls along his gum line.

Ianto laughed as well, leaning in to kiss his precious one and the knock at the door had him looking up from his fun as his wife cursed softly. "Who the bleeding hell would come this time of the evening, bleeding rude!"

Ianto knew someone was about to get a mouthful so he snorted and looked back to his child, not expecting anyone so sure it would be a neighbour wanting to borrow something for their own meal pot. It was known that Ianto provided well for his little family and he had a generous wife who never said no if a single mother was in need.

He heard the squeak of the door and smiled as his son canted his head to listen, most of the village voices known to him and as he watched his son his own ears picked up not only the unexpected silence but also his wife's exclamation of surprise, the click of the hammer had Ianto looking up with horror as the boom of the gun sounded and his beautiful, sassy and terribly wonderful Milly Girl few back from the door to hit the wall, her middle exploding from the shotgun blast. Ianto sat stupefied as his wife and the unborn child in her belly became an art instillation entitled 'Curse of Wealth in a Time of Need' and Ianto was still sitting there, a block in his hand and his mouth hanging open as little Henry struggled to rise, one foot under him and his hands flat on the floor as he looked in the direction of his mama while a man swung around the doorframe and entered the front room. The gun swinging from his hip.

Ianto took a deep breath and looked at his lovely son, taking that precious heartbeat to memorise his little curls before the boom sent the now standing child back into his arms and he finally had the strength to cry out while he held the mangled lump of flesh as his child writhed and thrashed in his death throes.

"Where is it!" the man shouted, a second one entering and looking down, cursing as he saw what is partner had done.

"For the love of Jesus, we were not gonna hurt the Missus or the wee bain, he will fucking kill us, you know he said just the Mister" the accomplice whined as the partner reloaded the shotgun.

Ianto didn't move, didn't rise. He couldn't. He could only hold the spasming little body and look at the unmarred face, those tiny lips peeled back from his face in a silent snarl as his brain synapses fired weakly, struggling even as he was already dead.

Such a strong little one, he would have been a fine gentleman one day.

"He said to kill him and take what we want from the bit in the floor, under the blue rug" the man hissed, "Cleaner this way, soft prick! Dunno why he kept saying to spare the missus and baby, we never have before."

Ianto looked up at the barrel of the shotgun, smiling as he canted his head. At least he was not the only one to lose his heart tonight. He hoped the sight of this caranage would cost this fucker his life when the man looked at his broken prize. Milly Girl was such a thing of beauty, seems her fella got tired of being the side bit. Eh?

"Douglas McDonald, go fuck your horse" Ianto said in the Scottish brogue of the region, "She might be ready for another round ya ugly fuck."

"Dougie no!" the accomplice screamed but Ianto knew he had won as he watched the finger twitch on the trigger and he heard the beginning of the boom.

.

.

.

.

BOOM

..

.

.

.

Ianto sat up with a shuddering gasp of breath and then looked around the room with confusion. It was dark, a curtain moving to let the moonlight play peek-a-boo. He rubbed at his face as he tried to shake off the memory, the shitty nightmare that came to him on the muggy nights sometimes.

BOOM

The thunder made him jump, his hands clutching at his chest as he shot from the bed and raced for the front door, his hands shaking as he checked the locks and then he stilled, realising his folly as he snorted at himself for being so scared of ghosts.

Ianto laid his head on the cool wood and sighed, taking a moment to calm himself. Chastise himself. Gods, her hair was like copper, gleaming in the sunlight. He would smell her. He could remember the sound of her skirts rustling.

He had loved her.

Broken his rule of not connecting to a mere mortal. Gods how he had loved her. His Milly Girl. And the child he accepted even as he knew she stepped out when he was away. He had been wondering if the next was a girl, had been excited even as he wondered who the hell she had been rolling in the hay with to get them. He knew she loved him as she chose him every time, also knew whoever she rolled with had provided the blocks for him to carve, the satisfaction in taking a gift from her lover to their child and mutilating it and making it better. She had not been the first who was unfaithful, nor was she the last. He accepted it as he accepted a lot of things with such a long life to live.

Gods, he had loved her.

"Yan?"

Ianto let his head roll to the side and found Jack leaning against the doorframe, standing close enough to touch him yet giving him room to breathe.

BOOM

Ianto felt himself twitch and Jack grimaced, pulling him close. "Millicent and wee Henry?"

Ianto didn't need to answer, just let his face burrow into that lovely point between neck and shoulder where Jack smelt like pure life.

"come on love, back to bed with you" Jack crooned as he led Ianto back to the warmth and safety of their bed, a flash of lightening filling the room with sensory overload for a second and Ianto could had sworn he saw a wooden block on the floor.

The tiger's face covered with blood.

We all have our ghosts I suppose.

In the night.

Henry's laughter on the breeze was one of his favourite pains.


	36. Chapter 36

36

"I do hate the smell of vinegar as much as I like it on me chips" Ianto said as they chewed their lunch around the meeting table and Owen smelt a story not waiting for the usual silent hope he decided to be bold.

"Why?"

Ianto looked at him as he seemed to consider, then he smiled, "Jellyfish."

Owen stopped chewing as he canted his head and screwed his face up as Ianto felt a flush of affection for the childish man so he gave in to the request for what might come.

"Hawaii in the early sixties, there had been a full moon the week before as well, usually we were up with these things but this early evening we just wanted to get our last catch of the day and head home, a big party that night for my brother-in-law's youngest. We were spear fishing off a reef, just off shore. A balmy night rolling in so the water was lovely and warm so we didn't wear much except our underwear, shouting at one another the usual jibes and taunts of friends hoping for an evening of fun. I really liked that family" Ianto took a bite of fish and considered it, staring at the white flesh like it held the next paragraph.

Owen took a bite of his own as Tosh tucked her feet up under herself and Gwen entered from her phone call with Rhys, "Did I miss something?"

"Shhhh" Owen flapped a hand at her, "Ianto is spear diving of a reef in Hawaii just on dusk. Was there much fish?"

"Lovely" Ianto smiled, "I had a lovely couple of flats that were going to slow cook wrapped in coconut leaves in the fire embers later. I was about done and I stood up in the chest deep water to call to the other men so we might go in. I was furthest out so the first tickle of my inner elbow had me looking down and yelling with alarm. Of course my brother-in-law started towards me not away so I had to yell to the others to pull him to shore, his desire to save me so strong."

"He couldn't?" Gwen asked as she settled with her cup of coffee still warm.

"I was about ten metres out, they were about six or seven so I knew they had a chance if I egged them on, so I thrashed about and disrupted the fish from going near the shore, gave them a small window of opportunity to get in then when I saw my Brother-in-law dragged onto the sand I started for the shore as well."

"What did it feel like?" Owen whispered intently.

"That's the funny thing, at first it was more like a tickle. Someone running their finger over your skin but then the burn settled in, running along my veins like quicksilver. I was feeling their venom" Ianto replied as Owen nodded.

"Venom" Owen repeated as he often did repeat something inanely when enthralled.

"I could feel my body struggling, my legs were numb like jelly and the heat inside me was a molten larva burring me alive from the inside out. Each breath was a struggle but I knew that if I didn't make landfall he would enter the water, his struggling with our friends proving his heart." Ianto sighed, "That family loved me too. Good stock, the Hawaiians."

"And?" Gwen promoted as Owen held his breath.

"And I reached shore, let them drag me up. Hecta was beside himself, seeing the welts from all the stings and knowing it was likely fatal. The others ran for the vinegar we kept in the car, returning to pour both bottles on me with some mad excitement that had me imagining them basting me for flames, the heat so intense now I was sure I was in an open fire pit. Gods, it burned so bad."

"You died" Owen said sadly.

"Yes"

"You liked them" Jack said softly, feeling his mate's sorrow at leaving a place of love and Ianto smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's OK. They panicked and all ran for help, not a single one thought to stay with me. I died alone looking up at the waning moon and cursing her for her bloody minions. The light got smaller and smaller until a pinhole and I let go, saddened but knowing this was how it was to be."

"Bu they didn't see you die" Tosh gasped as she got the smile he had given Jack.

"They returned to find me alive and groggy, no sign of the welts and they declared it miraculous, all slapping themselves on the back for being so efficient with the vinegar, yeah" Ianto roared with mirth, "I feigned illness for a few days and then lived another four years before a car accident made me leave them, yeah. One of the few times I could do a reset and stay."

Jack smiled with Ianto as he saw the relief in Owen's face. So sweet that he worried about Ianto like that, a good friend too.

Then Jack watched as Ianto reached out to pat Owen's hand and offer some more coffee. He realised with a stat that Ianto could stay every reset now, a family would always be here. Well, him anyway.

That was a comfort too.

No wonder vinegar always made him shiver.

.

..

OK so do you have any ideas?

Ways Ianto might have died?

Remember he can't lose his head but I will consider suggestions.


	37. Chapter 37

37

Ianto sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose as he turned to leave the room but he slammed into Jack who was entering, the force of his desired departure sending both men into the doorframe.

"Aw! Shit!" Jack clutched at the back of his head as Ianto cursed as well, pulling Jack away from the framework to check his scalp and he sighed as Jack's fingers came away bloody, shoving the hand away to spread the hair apart himself.

"Aw, barely a scratch ya baby" Ianto scoffed, then leaned in to blow on it, his lips pressing against Jack's forehead before pulling back and smiling apologetically.

"You OK?" Owen asked and Ianto turned to him.

"Sorry, it's the smell. I can't stand the smell of sulphur" Ianto admitted an Owen saw for the first time how pale Ianto had become so he motioned them from the room and they stumbled into the back yard of the small semidetached they had been bagging the body in.

"OK, spill!" Owen demanded, his eyes almost shining as he clutched at Ianto's coat and then he stepped back with a yelp as Ianto did exactly that, leaning forward and vomiting his breakfast into the little ornamental garden by the back steps. Owen had never seen Ianto react to a crime scene like that before, even if it was a Lestil attack. Ianto usually was the calm one picking up bits of what was once a person and commenting on the drapes.

"Sorry" Ianto said again, taking beep lung-fulls of air "The smell. Sulphur."

"Yeah, they pee all over their food source, you know that's why it will be so pissed when it comes back and finds it gone" Owen said as he reached out to pat Ianto's' shoulder, "That's why we need to clean up and get ready for a shit storm show down."

"Shit storm show down" Ianto repeated, "Good one."

Owen waited as he watched Jack return for the house with a glass of water that Ianto gratefully accepted, then he looked at Owen and sighed "OK, we have time once we finish bagging OK? You two go back on and finish while I get my breath back and then I will tell you the story, yeah?"

Owen lit up "Cool!"

Ianto leaned back against the coal bin and thought back to the memory hidden so deep he had almost forgotten it. So many deaths, so many hurts and he wondered why this one had been pushed so deep.

"OK" Ianto said once they were settled in the SUV "We have time for one."

"Yes!" Owen punched the air and the jiggled in the seat to get comfortable, reminding Ianto of an unruly little beast.

"It was …1680 something. God, end of a tumultuous century and there had been little to crow about with all the unrest and civil disobedience, add to that the distrust in your own neighbour it was only a matter of time before my little act got found out." Ianto sighed as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat, his hair longer now as it curled around his collar and Jack knew soon it would be long enough for a tail like most Highlanders wore, "So he came to town looking to trade with a local antiques dealer and saw me walking along with the current one of my lust filled dreams. God, he was pretty. Little, lithe and could bend over and touch his toes if ya know what I mean."

Jack snorted as Owen canted his head not understanding then he frowned, "Bastard. Cheeky bastard, go on!"

"Right. So anyway, he saw me and immediately told the person next to him that he had known someone who looked exactly like me when he was a young child, of course he was an elderly man and when he stepped into the street and called my name I turned. Fuck, it had been almost fifty years since I had heard the Lord Flannery title but I turned." Ianto snouted as he shook his head sagely, "Of course the entire town knew within a matter of minutes as I stood in the street completely undone with an elderly man ranting as he pointed a bony finger at me."

"Witch" Jack hissed, "Shit, I barely got out a couple of times, yeah. They loved the old witch …shit. Sulphur."

"Yeah"

Owen's head was whipping back and forth, "Huh?"

"You see Owen, when they burn you at the stake for the heresy of being witch they build a huge pyre around the stake they placed in the town square of preferred burning field. They leave a path so they can lead the witch to the stake and tie them to it, stand them on a chair. You see the thing is, they soak the gown or shirt in sulphur so it burns nicely. Some places, they gave you bags of gunpowder to put under your arms and between your legs so you would die quickly but those who were cruel simply burned you as you were, you would writhe in pain for a long time, screaming as you felt your skin slough off. In this particular case it was sulphur. A common one. A rope around my neck, sulphur in my nose and …woosh!"

Owen was still, his eyes wide.

"Some places hung male witches, some were hung drawn and quartered but I had to pick one where they burned them. Lucky really, being quartered might have been awkward" Ianto sighed softly, "It was one of those things where I knew I was going to die so I thought I would be stoic and give them a show. In the end I screamed like everyone does."

"How long did it take?" Owen asked.

"Long enough for me to have discovered I would rather not do that one again little one" Ianto smiled, "But I got my own back."

"Yeah?" Owen looked up with interest.

"I waited for a couple of years until I was no longer so…burnt up about it" Ianto waggled his eyebrows and watched Owen snigger at the use of words he knew would tickle his weird sense of humour, "Then I went back to the town the old man lived in."

"Why?"

"Dark, moody and I tried to always make sure there was mist. It took about three months to scare the bastard, stalking him and whispering his name, spooking his horse from behind the bush as I ran across the road up ahead … Then one night I stood in his orange grove and I screamed like a wild banshee." Ianto laughed as Jack suddenly realised what he had done and slapped at him, "Yeah. Heart attack, they say he died of fright."

"Epic" Owen said with glee.

Ianto smiled and then his hand shot out the window of the SUV with a speed that made Owen jump with surprise, the gargled noise as the creature his blade had just slid into the only sound apart from the splatter of its blood hitting the road.

Owen peered out his window down as the convulsing thing on the ground and repeated, "Epic!"

,

,

,

,

You can thank **redro32244** for this one. xxxx


	38. Chapter 38

38

"Poor bastard" Owen was saddened to find that the weevil they had been chasing had inadvertently slammed into a large walk-in freezer, then turned to exit with extreme panic while the huge door was still swinging shut and it's neck had been neatly snapped.

"It was quick" Ianto sympathized, not liking to wee his friend upset over something not his fault, "Hey. Wanna hear about one time something similar happened to me?"

Owen perked up instantly, helping bag the weevil and then Ianto took him for fish and chips by the water, looking out over the bay with the ships coming and going in the distance. Owen waited as he knew prompting sometimes got a shorter story as Ianto needed time to collate his thoughts. Jack had joined them and was currently pouring sauce over his portion of chips, careful to keep them separated from Ianto's.

"See these ships, the big international buggers?" Ianto asked and Owen nodded wiping his mouth with the back of his hand eagerly, the story beginning. "Well, I once worked on a large commercial trawler, well. I did a lot of fishing back in the day, I love the water. Anyway, this particular one was a long hauler, a factory boat that netted the catch, processed it and packed it down. There were about twenty of us on it, big and grumbly but she was a looker. A pretty girl."

"Why are boats girls?" Owen asked.

"I don't know, never asked one" Ianto replied, enjoying Owen's snigger, "Maybe because they are a fisherman's girlfriend? The other woman the wife can never really get him to give up?"

"Hmmm" Owen considered. "Really"

"Traditionally, they were named after a significant female in the man's life like his Mama or wife." Jack answered, his knowledge coming from space ships as well "Maybe it goes back to ancient times when they carved the boats over the course of years, giving them figureheads and stuff. A female name like one of the goddesses? They say a woman on a boat is bad luck yet they are female. Maybe that's why, only one woman allowed?"

"Full of seamen?" Ianto supplied and Jack blinked. Then roared with mirth.

"Anyway, whatever the reason wee man, she was my pretty Red lady" Ianto smiled as he continued the story, Owen now excited, "A westerly blew in and there was a freak wave, hitting broadside. Equipment in the factory shifted, people were thrown about and this is a big boat that didn't register normal hits so we were unprepared as the water tore off the bulwarks. Water started to flood in and another wave hit, men were screaming as they ran for the lifeboats but it was too rough. The only hope was to close the hatches and hope she remained watertight as she got the dunking of her sweet life."

"Like a boat to a submarine?"

"Sort of. A boat is similar in that she is mostly watertight. Of course her Achilles heel is her hatches and stack." Ianto said then watched Owen frown so he corrected, "The chimney. The hatch for the engine room is most important as it is the heart, kill the heart and the beast dies. You must seal the engine room so she can keep the pumps going. I ran for that, sliding and slipping about, cursing up a blue storm as sailors do."

"You don't now."

"I'm not a sailor now Owen sweetling" Ianto scolded, "Do keep up. Do you really see me in cable knit?"

Owen snorted and waved a hand for him to go on.

"So, first I slammed shut the metal hatch door for that section to seal it from the rest of the boat. Once through the hatch I slithered through the scuttle, a smaller hatch in the floor that drops into the engine room. It was at this point another wave hit and apparently it jarred the backbone of the ship enough to shake the scuttle door loose from its hinged latch that held it open against the wall and it slammed shut with an almighty bang."

Ianto slammed his hand back on the bonnet of the SUV they were sitting on, Owen squeaking as he felt it resonate.

"I was still on the ladder and the scuttle came down on me head. Gods, the last think that went through me head…bar the scuttle handle…. Was bugger" Ianto said as has rubbed the top of his head as if remembering the pain. "I dropped like a stone, dead with a broken neck before I hit the grating and I have no idea how long I lay there flopping about like a fish in my death throes. I woke to find the boat listing, the scuttle not securely latched so water was coming in from another entrance to the main area. I clambered up the ladder and turned the handle."

"Like a big round one? Like on the telly" Owen was turning his hands in a circle and Ianto nodded to show he had it right.

"Some doors are round, some rectangular with curved corners. Yeah. Well I have no idea what I looked like after we limped into port and I was able to open the scuttle and hatch doors. A real blood mask. I loved that boat."

"She nearly…huh. She did kill you" Owen said with a frown, "But you went back?"

"Don't be silly of course I did. The boat didn't hurt me, the sea did. Look out there, see her beyond the bay? beautiful and deadly Like a huge ancient creature lying in wait. Every now and then she will choose a boat and eat it. Crunch munch, crackle and pop. Nothing to do with the boat or her crew. Can be the safest boat, the best crew. The pissiest mood of the sea and she just whomps it down. No, don't blame the boat. She is what cradles you in the night. She rocks you to sleep with her soft lullaby of groans and slapping water."

"You make is sound so romantic" Owen sighed as he looked out over the water again, "Like…another world."

"It is Owen" Ianto sighed back, "Something you can't explain in words, either you are borne to water or you are not. Not everyone is but those of us who have stood in the deck of a vessel with nothing but the blue all around them know the beauty and solace of such a place. Another planet out there. Yeah."

Jack glanced over at his lover and realized it had been something he had missed, Ianto's past stories about fishing as well.

"Let's take the "Sea Princess" out for a spin later" Jack said after a while "Open up her throttle and see how she goes with that new filters you installed."

"Sea Princess?"

"Yeah, the little sister to the 'River Queen' she moors next to in our inner docks" Ianto smiled, "Really? We have those reports and…"

"bullshit. Let's do it. Owen? Wanna take a little speed boat out and zoom about like nuttas?"

Ianto looked at his love and smiled, reaching out to snag his hand as Owen bustled about cleaning up the empty parcels and prattling on about footwear.

The sea sounded perfect for the digestion.

.

.

.

Brose1001 nice prompt and I was glad to run with it. My oldest brother has been a commercial fisherman for nigh on thirty plus years and he has been on everything from large factory boats to wee three man putters. I have been on some of them with him for a look, clambering about and getting wolf whistles while he snarled and gnashed his teeth to tell them I was off limits. One of the first English things a Russian Defector on his crew learned to say was 'Veedle Seeesta' while also puffing out his chest and pointing at me. Rick has narrowly escaped death with doors closing or winch malfunctions. Also, he had been overboard near the Arctic Circle … the dweeb can at least swim unlike many fishermen. Such is the high risk paid for having such a cruel temptress for a mistress. We have lost many friends and had empty coffin burials for those she keeps at her bosom. My brother has traced out pakeha (eurpoean) side back to the Vikings so it's in our blood I suppose, add to that Maori were sea voyaagers who found this land and settled as well it was natural that he loves it so.

Youtube it … Grey River Bar Greymouth New Zealand and see some of the crossings … my brother is on some of those boats bobbing about it the waves and yes, I have been too. Exhilarating and terrifying. I am a landlubber it seems.

.

Scuttle: A smaller, sealable, opening in a larger, heavier door or hatch.


	39. Chapter 39

39

Ianto was bored, swinging in the chair as the Hub hummed with life. He rose and walked out to the vehicle pool and hopped on his motorbike, intent on shaking off the cobwebs. As he rode up into the bright light the sword on his back gleamed in the sunlight and the black leather he had put on made him look like some assassin out on assignment.

Tosh soon found him on CCTV and tracked him as he tore about the city with an ease of motion that was more like some form of dancing rather than simple riding. She had it on the large screen, everyone glancing up now and then to watch the black ninja weave between vehicles on the freeway and belt along.

"Wonder what music he is listening to" Owen muttered to himself, Tosh overhearing and knowing the radio station Ianto prefers, keyed it up.

Queen filled the speakers of the hub, the deep throbbing base and powerful lyric of Bohemian Rhapsody filled the Hub as Ianto almost laid the bike over turning a corner and Owen smiled as he saw that his friend was enjoying himself.

It all happened so quickly they barely had time to register the danger before the large stock truck blew the stop sign to swing wide around a corner and Ianto ran straight into it.

Gwen screamed as Ianto's arms flew from the handle bars to cover his facemask of his helmet and Jack was running without a word, unable to speak for shock and disgust at the red smear mow visible on the screen from the body being dragged beneath the vehicle.

Jack drove like a mad man, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a silent snarl and the team chose to silently sit and pray they made it there in one piece.

They arrived to chaos, people crying, yelling, one vomiting as more tried to extract Ianto's body from the large wheels underneath the trailer unit. Jack walked towards them confidently as Gwen slowed, glancing at Tosh, "Is it bad that I don't want to see?"

"No. I don't either" Tosh replied softly, "Let's do crowd control. I never like seeing Ianto hurt, trying to imagine if it was quick or not. He doesn't always let on but I think some deaths are too slow."

The two women started talking to people and corralling them away as Owen slid underneath the truck, smallest and able to get in to see the strips of leather.

Ianto was wrapped around the axle, hard against the wheels and stuck. Like a rag.

"Fuck. We have two choices here" Owen called back to Jack who was crouched waiting "We either remove the wheels and slide him out or we gentle have the truck move forward while one of us pulls to unravel him. He's like a roll of liquorice in there."

"Fuck" Jack looked around and with relief saw Rhys running towards them, his own truck left on the side of the road and his face ashen. He reached Gwen and they embraced, words were exchanged and he then moved towards Jack.

"Rhys. How hard is it to get the wheels off this thing? Ianto is wrapped around the axle in the wheel area, like … locked into the brakes I think." Jack asked.

Rhys considered an looked at the truck for a moment, "Easiest? Or least damaging to the truck?"

"Easiest" Jack replied at the same time as Owen, "Fuck the truck."

"Well, we get a portable welder and simply cut the axle on the other side of Ianto, removing the entire assembly. Truck's trailer unit is toast but he will be easiest to retrieve with least effort or damage to what is …well …. Left."

The rescue services arrived and agreed with Jack once he assured them there would be no blow back for destroying a truck. They set to the task, Jack insisting on being there to hold the tarp over Ianto's' body, the thought of an errant spark touching him upsetting. Silly, I know. He was dead.

Owen found the sword back at the point of impact, picking it up to hold against him as he walked the line of wreckage. People hadn't removed much, some had pulled large pieces of Haley Davidson out of the way for the rescue vehicles but the main trail of destruction accompanied by red smear that Owen knew sickeningly was Ianto being cheese-gratted along the road, led to the truck. Thank the gods his helmet had popped off … sans head inside. Ianto's habit of not strapping the chin strap no obvious to Owen who saw that a helmet securely fastened would have decapitated him and it would have been all over for reals.

"Ready!" came a shout and the men were ready, the jacks either side to hold up the trailer as they fired up the firetruck and yanked the wheels, the thing popping out with Jack clutching at the Ianto as he flopped from it into his arms.

It was a quiet ride back to back, Jack ashen and shocky as they took Ianto and cut the remaining clothing from the mess then bathed him and placed him in the bed.

"Go, he hates this part and still sees his reanimation as something shameful" Jack said softly, watching the team touch and retreat.

It was several hours before those beautiful eyes opened and looked around, Jack smiling as he leaned over to kiss him.

"Hey lover."

"My bike?"

"Toast."

"Fuck."

"Owen found your sword though" Jack offered, rewarded with a weak smile as Ianto stretched, bones popping into alignment.

"Food?"

Jack relaxed as he watched his love sit up, letting the sheet fall away to show an unblemished body once more, rising to pad across to get PJ bottoms on, "Are the team OK? Gods, they had to help get me out didn't they."

Jack told him how bad it had been and he sighed, nodding then going out to let them see he was back. Jack sat for a long time in the quiet room before going after him.

That death would linger for all of them.

Especially the one who loved him more than a mad man in a Tardis.


	40. Chapter 40

40

Ianto was killing a refrigerator.

Owen was interested in this weird turn of events as everyone else continued to hunt for the errant weevil in the old dump. For some reason Ianto was taking umbrage with this old ice box, snarling as he worked at the handle, putting his full weight into it. An ancient model that was a huge white block of weight, Ianto swinging on the door handle like a child.

"Ianto?"

Ianto glanced over at Owen, then stepped back to take some breaths. "Children die in these."

"What?" Owen asked with horror.

"Children, playing hide-n-seek or something, hide in these and they can't open them from the inside" Ianto flapped his hand angrily, "Every time I see one, I break the lock so it's safe. Three times I found someone in one."

"Bullshit!" Owen gaped.

"Missing, search parties … then said someone must have taken them … written off. Poor little buggers suffocated and gone, all alone for so long. Breaks my heart" Ianto sighed then went back to attacking the handle, Owen thinking about it and then joining in.

The rest of the team came back their way with the sedated weevil being dragged between the two women who was excited that they had been the victors, even if Jack had been the one to hit the damned thing. He was not going to point out their darts went wide as he let them have the hunt. Jack found the two men sitting in the grass with satisfied expressions, the handle between them on the ground. Jack crouched down and picked it up, "These things are kid killers."

"What I said" Ianto nodded as he leaned back, "Hungry now."

"Have you ever been in one?" Owen asked as they walked towards the SUV and Ianto looked at him with surprise, then helped load the sedated weevil.

"I have hidden in one, had tantric sex in one and even used one for a boat once" Ianto finally admitted, Owen laughing at the image. Jack smiled as he listened, seeing Ianto let go of what had upset him. Of all the deaths, children shook him the most … well, it should shake everyone.

"Stop here!" Ianto suddenly said and they slammed on the brakes. Ianto then got out and stalked over to a set of swings and sat on one, starting to swing back and forth gently. Owen ran to another and joined him, Ianto's head falling back to enjoy the afternoon sun.

"He's lost one" Gwen said softly as Tosh finally left the SUV to join in leaving Gwen and Jack alone. "Hasn't he"

"Ianto has loved and lost many children … it was ... yes. Not my story to tell but yes, Ianto has loved one of those lost children playing hide-n-seek but made a foolish mistake" Jack sighed. "It took three hours to find him … little one dead long before he found him."

"How can you love someone, knowing they will die and you will be left with just their memory" Gwen shook her head, "It must be crippling."

"Rhys might crash his truck tomorrow. He might get hit by a car crossing the road tonight with the fish n' chips. He might have a heart attack next week. You love him less knowing these things?" Jack asked.

"But … I might go first in this job." Gwen said with s frown, "Or we might grow old together."

"Ianto and I never will" Jack pointed out, "We will never share a pair of glasses to read a menu, we will never settle with a TV dinner each on a tray to watch The Chase. We will always be as we are. Never go grey, never sit in the park feeding the birds while our grandkids frolic on the swings."

Gwen considered things, "But you will always be handsome."

"Gwen, I have loved women who have aged. Held the hand of a woman who knew me as her childhood crush, old and dying with so many wrinkles on her soft old skin" Jack shook his head softly, "And she was still as beautiful to me as the day I first saw her laughing and dancing a jig."

"I guess I don't think about it" Gwen admitted, "I love him, I love each day with the hope of another. I just … to think that I had to go on without him. God."

"I have loved and lost so many" Jack said sadly, then his face changed as he smiled, "But look over there. He loves me. Can you imagine that? A two faced con-man like me, loved by such an elusive creature that they are considered myth and legend."

Gwen smiled as Ianto's laughter boomed back over the playground, Owen on the ground with his broken swing.

They were all lucky.

She knew Rhys would get a right seeing to tonight.

All lucky.


End file.
